Day 180

Robert was a lot better today, as I was busy he went out onto our terrace and played Ludo with his teddy, then I got him the playdoh out and he played that too. He was an angel really, so after I had finished what I was doing I went outside and joined him in a game of Ludo.

We had lunch from Kindergarden today, and I sat at the kids table with them, that's when you realise you have long legs! But it was nice out at lunch time. We had cauliflower soup and then cake, the boys weren't too impressed with the soup, but they never complained about being hungry in the afternoon so it must have filled a hole!

As Robert was a lot better today I was able to take them both to the hairdressers, they look so cute now, but neither really wanted their picture taken, so these were taken on the sly!CU tomorrow

Day 179

Yesterday I was wondering if Robert was OK, he was a bit more whiny than usual and had a very funny sort of cough - he sounded a bit like a seal!
So this morning when he was still barking, I stopped and thought "What would I be doing this morning, if I didn't have to go to work?" and my answer was - taking Robert to the doctors.
So that is what I eventually did, feeling a bit sort of guilty "was I just an overprotective Mum who doesn't want a cough spoiling their upcoming holiday?"
Our doctor wasn't there, so I phoned the children's doctor (can't spell paediatrician!) we go to for Robert's heart check up and asked if we could go there. I thought of not going, but I was already not at work so I needed a sick note at least.
I am so so sooooo glad I went. It turns out, he has....can you guess... yep another dose of tonsilitis. They are nice and crimson with white spots AGAIN! So it is another round of antibiotics for poor Robert.
When we started out for the doctors he wasn't too bad, but once there he "crashed", said he had a headache (meaning fever is on its way up) and by the time we were home and thinking of lunch he was glowing and feeling really rough.
He went to bed for an hour and when he came down he was in tears cause he was feeling so rotten. He lay on the couch and actually fell asleep watching TV (that never happens), he only woke when Richard tried to pinch his gummibears!
I then gave him some Ibuprofen. Wow that stuff is magic. One hour later and he is bouncing on the trampoline..and I am not joking. One of the reasons that I normally only give him that at bedtime, cause otherwise he does too much.

By bedtime the effects had worn off, and he needed dosing up again. So now we just have to cross our fingers that he is fighting fit again by the time we go away!

And that was basically our day. I got only a couple of pictures,
one of the poorly boy as the Ibuprofen was kicking inand one of Richard playing playdoh in the gardenCU tomorrow

Day 178

:o( Germany 4: England 1
And that inspite of all the fans at our house!And the flags outsideOr this little SUPER fan! (remember the England song that I liked..)

Despite losing we had a great afternoon, our friends came by for a barbecue and the second half of the match. And not too many people sent commiserations.
CU tomorrow

Day 177

Whilst Florian went to the hairdressers this morning the boys played really nicely on their own upstairs, and I got most of the washing done and in this weather it dried really quick too.
After lunch we went out spending our birthday gift vouchers, and bought a new barbecue! We also got a new beer tent table (is that what you would call it in English? I have no idea). When we got
it all home we set it up for a trial run in the garden (including the TV).Tomorrow it will be put to the test with guests too. Why tomorrow? Well tomorrow we will be cheering one team or the other in the next round of the World Cup! (Germany v England).

The boys were late to bed again today, cause we wanted to try the barbecue out, but they weren't complaining!

CU tomorrow

Day 176

This morning I played with my new toy - my new iron! It was brilliant, the water run out before the ironing did, but today it didn't matter, I just refilled (without any danger of burning myself) and continued right away! BRILLIANT!
Whilst ironing I also had the computer being busy. I was burning all the pictures and videos we took at the boys football tournament for all the other Mums and Dads. And as I had some time after finishing the ironing (maybe the new iron speeded me up!), I made them all a CD cover too!

Credits:
Kickity Kick by Danielle Corbitt

Then I had b-day card to make, cause in the afternoon I only had one of my own kids. Robert went to a birthday party. Richard had a little friend over to play. It was a great afternoon, the boys played great together, without Robert there to wind them up!

Robert finally got home from his birthday party about 8.30pm. A late night for him, and for Richard too, who thought it was great that Robert was out so late, cause he got to stay up too! And he certainly kept letting me know!

I forgot to take any pictures of the boys playing but I did take one of the project Robert has been working on at Kindergarden - his weaving. This is the bag that he made (he wove it, the Kindergarden teachers made it). I think this will be going everywhere with him for a while!
Off to bed now
CU tomorrow

Day 175

Beautiful sunny day today here, and we made the most of it! We spent the afternoon in the garden. Whilst the boys were tidying up their mess in their bedroom I put the paddling pool out and filled it up. So by the time they got down it was already ready for them to jump in. ONly they didn't they had an ice-cream first! Have to get your priorities right!!

This morning they went to Kindergarden in their England kit! Seeing as England won their match yesterday. In Robert's group all the kids came home wearing head bands (made with crepe paper), they made Robert one in England colours, which I thought was really cute of them!
Richard is in a different group to Robert and they didn't get head bands, he was quite upset about it, so at home I had to make him one. Just one problem I didn't have white or black so I couldn't make England or Germany for him. He chose blue, red and yellow for his!I spent the evening watching online TV - I'm catching up with Flash Forward which I missed whilst at the seaside! Only problem with online TV is that I can't scrap at the same time...maybe tomorrow
CU then

Day 174

School for the boys this morning. The teacher they have for their German lessons will be one of the teachers taking a first year class. So with a bit of luck for Robert he will get him and then have NOTHING to worry about! But I am not too worried, I am sure they don't set the difficult teachers on those just starting school. But we'll see.

Whilst the boys were learning German, I was sat outside in the sun (after doing the shopping) with my book. It was so relaxing.
And the afternoon was great too. Instead of watching the football, we went to the playground, where we met with 7 other Mums and their kids! We all had a SUPER time! I did take the camera but I didn't take many pictures. I really wanted to get a good picture of Robert's friend, as it is his b-day party on Friday, and I need to make a card. I got that picture but not many of the goings on.
This one is cute though, it is Robert and one of his friends from Kindergarden playing (or trying to) tabletennis.This evening I didn't watch the football either. And I think it was because I wasn't watching that both England and Germany won their matches. And now when they play one another on Sunday afternoon - I can't lose!
CU tomorrow

Day 173

Phew, spent most of my evening on the phone today it seems, first Florian, then Mum, then a friend, then Florian again! It made a nice change!

Anyways about today, I am feeling MUCH better today. I woke this morning and still had a headache. I thought about going to the doctors, but I knew that really she couldn't solve it, as it is stress related. So I decided today was the day to tackle the stress and get it out of my life!
I put on my bright red blouse - to show I meant business, and off to work I went.

I phoned my boss more or less as soon as I got there, and she could see me straight away. So upstairs I went and just told it like it is. And woohoo, I can reduce my hours to 8 a week, and that way I can make it all work, without Robert ever knowing any different. I will be here to put him on the bus and here to pick him up from it too! Even still talking to my boss, once she had said yes, I could almost feel the tension leave my neck and shoulders. Now I can talk to my doctor about something to relieve the tension (maybe a massage or two), but now it should solve the problem!
After that though the day at work dragged a bit, cause I wanted to go and tell the world, that I had solved my problem...

After picking up the boys from Kindergarden (and letting them know I had solved my problem) we went in the garden and had an ice-cream. Then my friend and her kids came around and we had a good natter.

And as I already said, I had even more chatting in the evening. after all those phone calls I went out and watered my plants and whilst out there, I realised I had left the light on with the chickens, so I turned it off and whilst there got a picture for my blog.I think I made the white chicken (Stevie McQueen) jump when I went in, they were already in bed you see!
Which is where I am off to now, nothing on tv tonight, so I am going to do some more reading
CU tomorrow

Day 172

Well, I had no luck this morning at Kindergarden, trying to get Robert one afternoon a week, but they are just too full. It is stressing me a bit (neck ache, headache and tears too close to the surface) really embarassing. I know other Mum's work full time and manage, but after work tempting me with the possibility of working from home and then changing there mind, and school saying they were having 3 times a week long days and then taking it back, I'm struggling to find a solution which suits me!
Oh well, still two months til he starts school, maybe something will come up. One idea from Kindergarden was to ask some of the other Mum's if they need help with their kids, and take it in turns...I'll try that one when those tears aren't quite so near to the surface (too embarassing)

OK, I needed to get that off my chest, don't worry if you haven't got a clue what I was on about, that bit was for me! Blogging therapy I suppose you could call it!
Now on to today.
Work this mroning so nothing to report there, then this afternoon Robert went back to Kindergarden to work on his weaving. Richard and I watched Matthew Morrison from Glee on Loose Women, then I treated Richard to some Glee songs on Youtube! I think he thinks I lost it, but he does like "Don't stop believing" he even started singing along!

At 3pm we picked Robert up and drove to the next village where Coco Pops were on offer. AFter getting them I took the boys to the playground there, it has some different stuff there, so they like that treat!
Once home it was out into the garden. I did some weeding on my "new" flower beds and the boys helped. Unfortunately they continued to help me, whilst I popped in to the toilet. And when I came back out they were feeding the chickens one of my new plants...ooops!

Later on my friend popped around with her Mum to show her our hard work in our garden, and to also show her were her cuttings and things had been planted! She loved it, too!

One lad from Kindergarden saw our open gate and the kids on the trampoline and him and his Mum joined us in the garden. Just a shame that he thought the chickens would like my new lavendar and pulled that up too! My poor garden took a beating this afternoon.

This evening I did some scrapping (Speed Scrap at Gotta Pixel) and I never got any pictures, so here is Sunny again, it's been a while since he has been featured!CU tomorrow

Day 171

The boys were up nice and bright and early, but I managed to sort of ignore them until 8.30am! Not bad really...
Then it seemed to get really busy around here, Florian found a mole in the mouse trap in the kitchen. It had only got it's paw trapped so it is now limping around in the farmers field, where I took it in a bucket! Florian thought it might climb out of the bucket on the way there, but the poor thing was busy licking its paw! (Quite cute really).
Then I found out that the cake I had baked for the football tournament was late, it had to be there at 9.30am it was already nearly 10am so off I rushed to the football field with my cake! But when I got back, Florian played Ludo with the boys and I googled for some pics of yesterday's royal wedding (Sweden) and just relaxed. Then at midday it was time to go to the football field. The boys were so excited.

For the first time they all got a kit to wear, they all looked so cute dressed the same. Here is a pic of them all training beforehand - Robert is just about to head the ball (he's No. 7) (and Richard is No. 8)!And this is right before the first game
I think they pinched the huddle from American Football, but it was fun to see.Of course we didn't win, but the main thing was to show the kids what a tournament is all about, and to have fun, and they had lots of that! We lost our first two games and drew the last game, which meant that in the overall tournament we came 7th out of 8!! Not bad for beginners!

They also got invited to two other tournaments in August - it's now official, I'm a "Soccer Mom"!
CU tomorrow

Day 170

It was a busy day for me today, I got caught up on a lot of housework. I got the floors cleaned, the washing done and the ironing! And, I baked a cake!
I got the floors cleaned this morning without any help from the boys. They were at the time outside with a packed of bubbles each. It is no fun cleaning floors if they insist on helping, so I was very lucky!
In the afternoon whilst I was ironing they were outside with Florian helping him mow the lawn. Well, they were chasing him with a wheelbarrow and a push along lorry! I think they may have fell over a few times, cause their knees were really green when they came back in.

After the ironing Robert came indoors and we baked a cake together. Tomorrow is their football tournament, and us Mum's have been asked to bake a cake. I was going to cheat and buy one, but after checking the cupboards I did have all the ingredients for my "Russian Apple Cake" so that is what we made.

After tea the boys had a bath, and Florian got a different sort of shot of them in the bath. Not a shot I could take, I'm just too short!CU tomorrow

Day 169

Oops, Germany lost and England were appauling - and thats me with two teams to support!! Just thought I would get that out of the way at the beginning of the post!

The rest of the day was much better. At 9am this morning Robert went to his friends b-day party. Funny time really, but Kindergarden was closed today. So whilst Robert was at his party, Richard and I joined some other Mum's and kids at our bakers. A much better idea than staying at home with Richard pining for Robert!
When we got home it only took him 5 minutes to ask when Robert was coming home...said he really really missed him.But once Robert was home they argued more than I care to remember!
But first I changed them into their Germany T-shirts and turned the match on. Not sure they were too impressed though. But they look the part at least!
After the game we picked Florian up at the station, he had to look twice before he found us waiting for him, a bit confusing when you have never actually seen the new car!

This evening we watched the England - Algeria game, mmh, that was a bit of a waste of time. But I did find a fun service online, where I did this too our pictures! hihi!CU tomorrow!

Day 168

I'm not used to working on a Thursday, and you would think it wouldn't be that different, but Thursdays is "Department Meeting Day" and I had to go too....mmh meetings haven't changed much in the last 6 years...need I say more!
I had to take my laptop in today, so they could show me how to log in from home, I think the IT guy was impressed with my laptop...

After work it was all a bit of a rush from then on, I picked the boys up and had to get home and feed them quickly, cause Robert wanted to go back to Kindergarden after lunch. He is working on a weaving project there, and to finish it, he needs to go in on some afternoons between now and our holiday! So at 1pm he was back at Kindergarden and Richard and I went shopping.
Then at 3pm it was back to pick up Robert at Kindergarden, then we went to a neighbour/friend's for the kids to all play together. I think the weather (or the moon) was getting to all the kids, cause there was so much arguing going on.
In the end we gave them some water bombs, but first we lined them all up against a wall, and showed them what we would do with water bombs!! hihi - that was fun! We aimed high and they all got soaked! But they thought it was funny too! Only when they played they just threw them at the wall!
Unfortunately I forgot to take the camera, so I think today's photo is this year's most boring photo
and I must admit it was a pretty boring evening, nothing on the TV, so after a lot of zapping this is where I ended up..and that noise, the one that sounds like a swarm of wasps...AGH...
I'm going to bed now to do some more reading, maybe I should have done that before I turned the football on!
CU tomorrow (probably after another dose of vuvuzelas - at least tomorrow my teams are playing!)

Day 167

We set off for Mum and Dads this morning with the winter tires in the boot of the car. Unfortunately they did keep moving about in the boot, and most of the time they seemed to be banging into the back of Robert, so by the time we were nearly there, he started feeling sick. He gave me enough warning that I could empty the carrier bag I had their pyjamas in quickly with one hand and pass it to the back of the car. Unfortunately when I tipped the bag out, the top half of Richard's pyjamas didn't fall out! Oops. I then had Robert throwing up and Richard crying cause his pyjamas were dirty! AGH! And all this where there was NO chance of stopping. We finally were able to stop at a car park, which luckily had toilets. And there I was able to clean up the bag and pyjamas, so that at least they weren't smelly. And I promised Richard that Nanna would wash them for him, ready for bedtime!
WE then got to Mum and Dad's without anymore hiccups!

Once there, I set to work on cleaning the car ready to give it back. At 2.30pm I went to exchange it, they told me on the phone that I had to bring "time" with me, so I was expecting a LONG wait, but I was back home with the new car and new tires by about 3.15pm! Can't complain!
And here is the new car, really it is the same as the last one, only a different shade of blue, so that we know we really have got a new car!

Whilst I was getting the car, Mum took the boys for a walk to Aldi (so that we could stay for tea!), they managed to find 4(!) playgrounds on the round trip! Not bad for such a short walk! The boys thought it was brilliant. I joined them at two of the playgrounds!

Now we are all back home safe and sound
CU tomorrow

Day 166

Well as busy and as exciting as our weekend was, as boring was today! Back down south for Florian, work for me, Kindergarden for the boys. So nothing much to report. Even when we got home we didn't do much. The boys played a little in the garden, I read the new VHS brochure (community college), then tea time, then bath time and bedtime for the boys.

Between tea time and bath time our neighbour stopped by with my parcel! My new shoes are here, so that is what I took a picture of..
Tomorrow we go back to Mum and Dad's to pick our new car up, so guess what my picture will be of tomorrow!
CU then

Day 164 and Day 165

Wow, what a weekend! We had the best time! We managed to roll lots of days into one again, I'll start on Sunday morning.

Day 164 (Sunday)
We got up nice and bright and early and left home at 8am to take the boys to Mum and Dad's first.
We didn't stop long, just long enough for a drink then it was off to Essen! It took just over 2 hours to get there, we checked in, then we went and picked up our tickets for the musical. And we were so lucky again. This time last year I believe I was typing something similar "I LOVE ALDI!!", last year we were excited to have seats in Row 6, this year we had FRONT ROW SEATS!And not only that, they were right in the middle too! So lucky!
Well after getting the tickets we had time to go for lunch. We found the same place we had lunch last time we were there, and had a delicious pizza and Florian ordered a tomato soup, I think I ate half of it, it was delicious.
Then it was time to get ready for the musical, we saw the show at 2.30pm. The seats were all they promised to be and more. You see, when in the second half people actually got up to dance we had room too! The musical was AMAZING!
Then we found somewhere for something to eat...we went to a Mexican restaurant and had Burritos and as it was Happy Hour a couple of cocktails. Although mine was alcoholfree. It had joghurt, mango juice, cranberry juice and white chocolate (didn't taste that one). It wasn't one I probably would have picked, but I asked what the girls on the other table were drinking...and had the alcoholfree version of it! Delicious!
Germany played Australia in the evening, BUT we chose to make the most of our kid free time, and went to the cinema! We saw Robin Hood (with Russell Crowe), I was VERY sceptical about it, seeing as Kevin Costner is my Robin, but it was good. A totally different take on the story and a good film. Needless to say, we were almost alone in the cinema...there was 5 of us in a cinema for probably about 250!We got out, just as the whistle was blown on the football match, and GErmany had one 4:0. So back to the hotel we went to watch the highlights! (and listen to all the excited fans, driving around town beeping their horns!)

Day 165 (Monday)
WEll, we got a lay in...(sorry about your night Mum - the boys had Mum up at 4.25am, Richard had fallen out of bed, and Robert had a nose bleed! Ooops!)
We had a delicious breakfast in the hotel - anything you could ever have wanted was there, I even had a freshly baked waffle (I made it, so I know it was fresh!).
Then we went to the shopping center for some retail therapy. And where did we both find it therapeutic to shop, in the electrial store! We got the boys their Xmas presents! Early this year..they will both be getting a camera for Xmas, now we just have to plant the idea early enough, and get the nintendo ds idea out of Roberts head! The store had a special offer and the camera we got them was reduced from 70 Euros to 50. And it doesn't have too many buttons and those it does have are easy to use...I think they will have great fun with them. Such a shame we have to wait until Xmas to see that! ;o)

WE left Essen after lunch to come home, but before we left we got a few pictures of the places we visited yesterday!WE were back at Mum and Dad's about 3.30pm, the boys weren't over excited to see us, which means they had been having a great time!
We stayed for tea, which was actually an impromptu party as Lee and his family turned up too!
At 7pm we left for home, the boys were asleep just after the airport, so Mum and Dad must have worn them out!
Thanks again Mum (and Dad, but he doesn't read this!) - Love you lots and lots!
CU tomorrow

Day 163

The boys were nice and bright and early as usual, they kept coming to see me for something or other, but I did manage to stay in bed until 8.30am, even if I was awake from 6am!

Florian went and collected our lawnmower this morning, I don't know whether I mentioned it, but last weekend it started leaking petrol all over our lawn, and had to go to be repaired. And today it is back all repaired and fully serviced. So of course this afternoon we had to try it out...We were lucky really, it rained on and off all morning, and looked very much like rain for most of the afternoon. But luckily it didn't rain, well not until our "Grillfackel" were finished!
Here are my boys watching over them, and I am stood in the rain taking the pic!This evening we of course watched the England match (World Cup Football/Soccer), it started off good, but I suppose at least we didn't lose!

I won't be online tomorrow to post...we are having a musical getaway! The kids get to play with Nanna and Pop and we get to see the musical "The Buddy Holly Story" and we will probably go to the cinema too (Florian wants to see Robin Hood, although how Russell Crowe can compete with Kevin Costner I don't know! But I suppose every generation needs their own Robin Hood!)
CU Monday

Day 162

Another night I had to share a bed with Robert, and I think last nights storm went on all night. I feel a bit tired as if I never slept. At one point I thought I was going to have both of them in bed with me, cause Richard woke up too. But he had lost his pillow (he was actually cuddling it), when I put it back in the right place, all was well, and although it was flashing and banging he went straight back to sleep in his own bed! Phew!

This afternoon the boys got to watch a bit of TV, the first this week, they saw some of the opening match of the World Cup - South Africa vs. Mexico. Not sure whether they were really impressed or just pleased that the TV was on at all! But I am hoping that watching some football, will make them realise what they are supposed to be doing at training! We'll see!

When I told them it was the World Cup, Robert said "But, Mummy we know who is going to win the Cup!" Do we? I said, to which he replied "England of course" and know I did not prompt him or put this idea in his head. But it might have something to do with this song we keep listening to "Viva Englandia" - they can even sing along to the chorus.

We picked Florian up at the station at about half time, so they never did see a goal scored! Once home we all had to have an ice-lolly which we had made with all different juices this afternoon.
CU tomorrow

Day 161

Today was really really hot and sticky, you would think that after the thunderstorm we had in the night, that it would have cleared the air, but it just made it more sticky.

Like I suspected last night, Robert did end up in bed with me, the storm started about 1am and at 1.30am Robert woke up. It was obvious to me, that the storm was here for a while, so rather than try to get him back to sleep in his bed, I let him sleep in "Daddy's bed" and there the storm didn't bother him and he was straight back to sleep. Either that or I fell asleep before him and didn't see him trembling in bed ;o)

This morning I took the boys to the urologist again, this time to check their "balls" (not sure how else to put it) our doctor wasn't sure they had "dropped". If they hadn't then, after 10 weeks of waiting for the appointment, they have now! So we were in and out really quickly, and it was back to Kindergarden for them!

This afternoon we went to our neighbours for coffee and cake on his birthday, he did giggle about his present and said that he will go with his granddaughter, I'll keep asking.
And that in a nutshell was our day, I never took a pic all day, it was just too sticky to do anything. But I did take one tonight. And I apologise for it already....meet my feet!
For the first time ever I have put nail varnish on my toe nails. I didn't like how my toes looked in sandals, so I thought I would try this approach. From where I am up here, they look OK now, but if I look at the photo, I definitely need some practise in applying the varnish, but then again, I don't really think anyone will get that close to my smelly feet!
CU tomorrow

Day 160

School this morning for the boys. They seemed quite excited to be going, I hope it stays that way for Robert when he starts in August!
Whilst they were in their class, I went to see the school secretary and ask some of my questions about starting and such. I am going to have to rearrange when I work, so I wanted to know what a typical timetable for the 1st graders looks like, and they are at school from 8am until 11.30 which means the bus gets back to the village at 11.50am. So that rules out my 3.5 hour day. I can't do a full day anymore either, so I'm not sure, what I will be able to do. I'm just going to let it happen I think, and then see. I am looking into working less hours but for more or less the same pay, some tax thing. But I am not sure, just how little they will let me work! If only they were a little more in touch with the times and would let me work from home. But enough complaining, it will all sort itself out in the end, it usually does!

The boys played nicely in the garden in the afternoon, whilst I finished my mountain of ironing. They both were watering whatever didn't run away with their water pistols. I got Richard a big one like Roberts this morning!
AFter that it was time for football training. Here they all having a game. It seems that they are slowly getting the hang of it! Maybe we will score a goal in the tournament!

It has been threatening a thunderstorm all afternoon and evening, but so far so good, just a bit of rumbling. Robert woke up, but I gave him a big cuddle and he has gone back off to sleep. If the storm Mum and Dad are having does come here, I'll probably end up sharing my bed...
so I had better get there too!
CU tomorrow

Day 159

Compared to yesterday today was a really boring day. The kids were in Kindergarden all day, and I was at work all day.
I did leave a bit earlier today to go and get our next door neighbour a birthday present. He will be 70 on Thursday and I know that he will tell us off if we get him a present. So we didn't, we got his granddaughter a present really. We have got him a gift voucher for the indoor playground (2 adults one kid!) I think he will get a good giggle out of this present!And going to get the voucher straight from work, saved me from having to take the kids there! Phew!

We went in the garden when we were all back home, we were joined by our friends and neighbours, and enjoyed the sunshine.
After the boys were in bed, I went out to water my new plants and I remembered that I never did post any pictures of our hard work, so I took some pictures. I'll have to take some more, when there is a bit more light out there, these were taken at 8pm and with rain threatening!I couldn#t find a before picture, looks like we forgot but not even two weeks ago this bed was a bed of very well looked after weeds!
CU tomorrow

Day 158

Talk about busy days, today was one of those, work in the morning. Nothing to report from there. Then home for lunch and then all three of us went back to Kindergarden! Today was the day where I got to make a "Schultüte" for Robert. Before I try to explain what that is, I'll show you what I made first!
This is what all the kids starting school this year will have (well not necessarily with a football theme) with them on their first day of school. Traditionally it is filled with various things for school along with lots of sweeties and maybe a little present non-school related. Something totally new to me, as it is not done in the UK, but here it is a big thing. Even the making of one is!
I am really pleased with how it turned out, and so is Robert who cut all the black bits of shoe out! I have to say, though I can still feel, where I was pulling the laces through...
WE went straight from the Kindergarden to football training. The boys have got extra training, cause they have their first ever tournament on June 20th. And the lot of them don't really have a clue about the game!! Hopefully the extra practise will help a bit, but even if it doesn't they will most certainly have fun!
CU tomorrow

Day 156 and Day 157

Where did the time go? I enjoyed 40, but now I am 41!! oops! But I had the best day yesterday.
The boys sang to me in bed, Robert got a bit upset though, because I had no presents to unwrap. I had all my presents in advance this year, the new laptop, photoshop CS5, and even some flowers for in my garden...But I think the rest of the day cheered Robert up.
Florian did go and get my b-day cards from downstairs for me, and Dinphy, WOW; WOW, WOW! Thank you so much for sending me your ADSR card, I loved it then seeing it online, but printed AMAZING!

WE couldn't have picked a better day for the party, sunshine ALL day long! As Mum said in the comments though we really didn't take any pictures of the party....BUT... Mum and Dad did for us, so here are a few impressions of the partythe kids 21 in all, all got on great, there didn't seem to be any arguing, fighting or shouting at all. And our two were great, we hardly saw them all day, and we had said they could stay up til they crashed, well, we put them to bed after the last guests left at midnight! Wow! I never expected that!

Day 157
Yippee, the boys slept in, they got up, just like we had told them at 9am! They were still a bit whiny and grumpy, but we forgave them, we did know exactly why.
Our visitors left today after a barbecue, where we had "Grillfackel" (pork belly wrapped around a stick) with yesterdays leftover salad.
This time though we know we will be seeing them again in 7 weeks time, when they move here! Richard refused to say goodbye, funny how my boys do that, they seem to think that if they don't say goodbye people will stay on!
We did quite a bit of tidying up, but we got some relaxing in too. I got some great pictures of the kids, but again, can't really post them, this is a piece of the picture of the 5 kids - as you can see this is when Richard realised that they were going, so he decided to boycott the pictures! But we got him, and its sort of fun really!Time for bed, now it was nearly 2am last night, so I really need to catch up on some sleep!
CU tomorrow

Day 155

Done!!! Well, almost! We spent the day getting ready for the party tomorrow. Shopping in the morning, then we ordered the drinks and tables. Have to love our local shop for drinks, he brought the drinks and tables round for us, even unloaded all the tables for us!Then after lunch it was out into the barn and garden. We got all the summer things out for the kids and they were occupied whilst we tidied up the barn and things!
Here are the kids playingAnd I just want to say it here too, I have the BEST friends! Not only did they get me some plants for the garden for my birthday, they planted them too, but also they helped get the place ready for the party tomorrow! It made it not only go a lot quicker, but made it a LOT more fun too!

Florian's sister and family spent the day at the pool, also a good place to be today, the weather was amazing! They got back just as the boys were going to bed, but the boys must have been tired, as they were satisfied with just a "good night"!

I probably won't be posting tomorrow, in fact, probably is wrong - I won't be posting tomorrow, I'll be too busy partying! So I'll see you on Sunday with LOTS of pictures!

Day 153 and Day 154

So first all about yesterday! Wow did I have a busy busy day. I did washing, shopping, gardening, hosting and a funeral. Written like that it doesn't actually sound that busy, but honestly I never got to relax until about 9.30pm! And by that time I was so knackered that I skipped blogging!

I was really pleased with myself though a couple of times throughout the day. The first was that I had made the effort to go to the funeral, with all I had planned it would have been easy to skip, but it was of our landlady when we first moved to Germany and I just felt it right to go for all of us, especially as she lived near us now. And her daughters were really touched that I had come. I took a rose for her, as always when I see or smell roses it is her I think of, but they didn't have any flowers there, so the one I took is now in a vase on the table for her. It was a lovely service and is a lovely cemetary, it felt so peaceful, and to think that she was 98 when she died, is lovely.

The second time I was pleased with myself was after our gardening session in the afternoon. We achieved all we had set out to do, and it looks GREAT - but you'll have to wait for pictures! Or come and see for yourselves on Saturday!

Now on to today

Day 154 (Thursday)
Today was a bank holiday in Germany and finally the sun reappeared - and ALL day! So guess what we spent all day in the garden.
But first we had to give our niece a great start to the day as today she reached double figures - yep 10 today! So we went and woke her up singing, with presents and cake with candles. And then after a breakfast fit for a birthday girl we went out into the garden. And it was that sunny, that we even had to get the sun cream out!!

I have some lovely pics of the b-day girl and so, but I am not allowed to post them on the blog, adn this is the only one I have that we took today that we can post
Any guesses what was going on? This is what the kids were playing in the garden! They made a nest for the dinosaur babies, so cute!

At 5.30pm we went to "our" restaurant for a b-day meal, as usual it was delicious, and today after the meal, the boys went on the playground without us around, it's good when they have older cousins! They had a GREAT time, and were a bit put out when at 8pm we packed them all up to come back home and go to bed!
Which is where I am going now too
CU tomorrow

Day 152

Wow really busy day today, we had to hurry ourselves this morning and get the boys to Kindergarden early, so that Robert could go on his outing into town with the Kindergarden. They went to the dentist and to the palace gardens (Schloßgarten). Then Florian took me to work.
I had my appraisal today, very difficult for them to do, as I have only seen them once since we changed bosses! But they pretended to do it anyways, seeing as they had had no complaints I can't be that bad.
Unfortunately I will not be working from home, when Robert starts school, apparently I misunderstood when they said it was possible. I can only do that when the kids are ill, or are on school holidays, I suppose that is better than nothing, and if I play my cards right, maybe they'll realise that I will still work, even if I am sat at home...!

Florian picked me up again after his physio appointment, and when we got home, it was time for some gardening! My friends came round and we all got busy and we got so much done. Florian took pictures, but I want Mum to be REALLY surprised when they come on Saturday, so none on the blog tonight. But I will show you what we did find hiding in the garden (Mum, shut your eyes!)He has now moved to neighbours garden and I don't think he will be back, having 5 kids up close and personal should have scared it well and truly!
CU tomorrow