Day 150 and Day 151

Oops, yesterday I only remembered I hadn't blogged, whilst the computer was turning itself off, so it had to wait until today!

Day 150 (Monday)
Work in the morning, and in the afternoon after homework, we went swimming. The first time without having a swimming course, our friends were there for their swimming course, which made my life much easier, I could leave one of the boys with them whilst I took the other into the pool for some real swimming! We all had a good time!

Oh before we left Robert finished off his Birthday present! A Lego Monster fish, I think!

Day 151 (Tuesday)
First of all

Happy Birthday Florian, I wish we could be here together, maybe next year!

Another fun day at work. I just love it when I ask a question about a system my boss supposedly knows like the back of his hand, and his solution to the problem is "just ignore it"! What if I took that approach to every word I have to look up in a dictionary! Wouldn't look good in the translation, would it!
Anyhow at just before 11 I was booking my hours for the month so far, and I realised, that I had already worked the full time I am allowed to for the month, so I got off work early! I popped into town and picked up a birthday present for our niece and I picked up three T-shirts for me too!

This afternoon it looked like rain all the time, but unfortunately we only had a few drops, between those few drops I went out to feed the rabbit and chickens! And OH DEAR OH DEAR!
The roof has fallen down in the hen house! AGHHHHH!!!!
I spent a good five minutes trying to work out what on earth to do, then the next 5 taking pictures and then a good 45 minutes getting all the glass fibre and debris out of the hen house! NIGHTMARE!
After all that I had to have a shower as I was all itchy, now I just hope no more comes down. I did give the ceiling a good bang iwth the broom, and nothing moved, but its not really safe in there!
here the pictures!

In the evening Sabine came around and babysat the boys for me, whilst I went to a parents evening at school. Nothing exciting to report from there, the teacher just read a few school reports to us so that we know what to expect in a few weeks time. Now we just have to wait and see.
I did ask the teacher if he thought Robert should go to a speech therapist, Florian's sister reckons he lisps, so I wanted a second opinion, as I haven't heard him lisp, but then I am his Mum and would probably miss it. Anyhow his teacher says there is no need. I'll keep my ears open!
OK, time for bed now
CU tomorrow

Day 149

Happy Birthday Robert! 7 today, where on earth did the last 7 years go!

On his birthday of all days when we would have been OK with being woken, Robert didn't wake us, instead the kids both went downstairs and started building the lego crocodile Robert got yesterday. Florian and I got up at 8.30am and took his presents down to him. He was thrilled to bits with his new goodies, he got a remote control car from us.

HotWheels track and some money to spend in England from Mum and Dad, a bouncy ball that looks like a snow globe from Richard. And a book from Tommie & Lisa, he unpacked it and instantly knew who it was from!

He also says thank you for all the e-cards and messages on facebook! He LOVED all the attention. Unfortunately he didn't get to play that long, as we had to leave at 11.30am to go to their next football match. Here is the birthday boy throwing the ball back into play (see, what a bad "soccer mom" I make, I have no idea, what it is called!!)

They drew the match 0:0, which was good really, as the opposing team had more chances at a goal than we did!

Later in the afternoon we met Florian's sister and kids at the beer garden, and we spent the afternoon there eating and drinking and soaking up the sun! The kids played with Robert's remote control car until the batteries run out, and then they played in the sand pit. Here they are messing around there!

CU tomorrow

Day 147 and Day 148

Back again, since the picture of the beans I have been having big problems with my computer, Florian even thought it may be a virus. And tonight he sat down to sort it out for me, and what did he find out....my problems started at exactly the time Windows updated itself....mmh, and they stopped this afternoon (unbeknown to us) when Windows did another update...Dinphy told us that her husband says Windows itself is a virus, and I think he is right!!! Anyhow, just glad it is working again! So on with my diary!

Day 147 (Friday)
I had a very busy morning getting things ready for Robert's Birthday party. I spent 1.5 hours in the morning preparing a treasure hunt for the kids. The treasure hunt we did last year, which was supposed to take 45 minutes was over in 15, so this year I was determined to make it last longer! I mapped out a route that took them all across the village, with questions that were not so easy to answer. I got back home in time to get Richard from Kindergarden. After lunch, it was almost instantly time to go to the swimming pool, for our last lesson! I told Richard he needed to try and swim without anything around his waist as he might then get a certificate. At first he cried a bit, saying he couldn't do it, but I worked on him, and when we got to the pool, he told the teacher he didn't need the things round his waist, he was going to do it all himself. But she let him wear them to start with to boost his confidence. When they went into the big pool, I stayed out of the way, cause if I am near, he nearly drowns trying to smile at me!
Well, they both passed all tests and now have their certificates and badge to sew on their swimming trunks! So proud of my boys!

ooh nearly forgot to mention that Katrin, Sabine and kids were also at the pool today! And after our lesson, the teacher had only half a class and let their kids join in. Not bad!
AFter playing in the pool after the lesson for 30mins, it was time to get out and go and get Florian at the station!

I spent the evening convincing the computer to at least let me get the treasure hunt printed and then I gave up on it all and let Florian have a look! So no blogging!

Day 148 (Saturday)
We spent the morning getting the barn tidied up for the party, I still had to print out a placemat for the only girl of the party (had to make it first too), not an easy task on a computer that just does not agree with anything you do! But I got them done, got the cake decorated and put spaghetti through 17 pieces of sausage!
At 3pm all the guests arrived, and the parents left. Then we was on our own with 7 boys and 1 girl! Phew! Not an easy feat. We played a few games and then set off on our treasure hunt, which was really a hunt the pass the parcel parcel, cause Pirate Hinkebein had stolen it and left clues as to where to find it! I had the idea a while back to make the kids hold on to a skipping rope, to keep them all together and WOOHOO it actually worked! At all times we had all kids together with noone running ahead or straggling behind!

It was a bit long my route so we had to cut a huge bit out of it, otherwise the parents might have been there to pick them up before they had finished! I left them early and went back and got tea ready for them. They had garlic bread and "hairy" sausages! That is the sausages with Spaghetti going through them! The kids thought it was great fun!
This evening Florian spent trying to find out what was wrong with my computer, and I watched "Social Network" thats the film about the facebook founder. I enjoyed it! And now we are just waiting for Robert's birthday present to finish charging and then we can go to bed, so I thought I would blog quickly before windows does another update!
CU tomorrow!

Day 146

English at Kindergarden this morning, and it went well today. The kids must have been in good moods. They wanted to sing "Old MacDonald" so we repeated all the farm animals, and I was really surprised, cause they remembered them all! It was fun with them today!
Straight after English I rushed into town to get some shopping, I didn't have long, cause Robert gets home early on Thursdays. Well it was 11am when I got to the shops, and I knoew if I left at 11.30am I'd be fine, so I hurried on in to Aldi. I got all the shopping (including Robert's cake for his party, just need to remember to get some smarties tomorrow!) well I got to the till put all the shopping on the belt and it wasn't until it was my turn, that I realised something was very wrong! I was stood there in the queue and my handbag and money was in the car!! AGH!!! HOW EMBARASSING!  The lady at the till let me go out to the car to get it, and when I came back in, the lady behind me in the queue was packing my trolley for me! Thank you lady!

In the afternoon Katrin and her kids came round, and later her sister-in-law and Mum joined us. We were in the barn, cause it kept raining on and off. NOt enough for the garden, but too much to sit out in it! Katrin's Mum went through all the clothes I had sorted out the other day and took most of the T-shirts, it's good when I don't have to put them into the old clothes bin!
Whilst we were chatting in the barn, the sun came back out, and so the kids were playin in the garden! They got in such a mess!

So much so, that they had to strip in the utility room and then straight to the showere where I really had to scrub them to get the dirt off! But they had a great time!!
CU tomorrow

Day 145

Wow, what a day! But I am going to start with the most exciting news! I WON a competition!!!! We are going on a Center Parcs holiday!!! Yep, I blogged on my scrapping blog all about our Center Parcs holidays, sent the link to Center parcs, and actually won! A holiday for 6 for either Mon-Fri, or Fri - Mon! I'm so excited about it!
I just now have to wait for all the details, but it says in my email and on the Center Parcs Facebook page, that I won! WOOHOO!!!!
But now on to the rest of my busy day.
Library first this morning, the kids were all cute as usual, and Robert got two books out, the boys are now into "the magical tree house" by Mary Osbourne Pope (only in German), so we are reading on, and we already have the next two lined up!
I left the library early to pick Richard up and take to the skin doctor (dermatologist, is that the one?). We got there at 11.30am and they sent us away for 30minutes as they were behind. We went and had some lunch at MacDonalds, then back to the doctors to wait...and wait... and wait some more...and hey then wait again. We finally got to see the doctor at 1.15pm!!!
Well, she took one look at Richard's legs and said, mmh yep, I see, then he showed her his bum, which was bad today (too many gummibears yesterday - that is me saying that) and then said, yes, that is neurodermatitis! Oh my poor boy! BUT having said that we now have two creams and she said it shouldn't be too long before it starts to work. I asked about schooling for him and me, as too what to do, how not to scratch, etc. but she said, with the cream he shouldn't be needing that, fingers crossed. We left the doctors at 1.30pm and went to the chemists underneath to get the creams...bother, guess what another wait! Yep, they had to make up the cream, and we could pick it up at 2pm. Well, the weather was beautiful, so we went for an ice-cream. Richard had an ice-cream that looked like Mickey Mouse, and I had one that looks like spaghetti! It was all delicious! When we had finished it still wasn't time to get the cream, so we went to the toy shop, and Richard chose a present for Robert. He'll be getting a bouncy ball, that is also like a snowglobe. Richard knows his brother well! Then it was time to get the cream and make our way back home.
We got here just before 3pm, and my English student had had to cancel again, her tummy is still bad, and she is on her way to hospital. I hope she is Ok, poor thing!
Having said that, I was glad that I had a bit of a breather before it was time for the boys football match.

I popped over to see my friends and tell them about winning a holiday, then I had to go and get everything ready for the game. And Robert was due home, he spent the day after school at his friends. He loved it there! He didn't like hearing that Richard had been to MacDonalds and had an ice-cream, but he understood, after I explained that most of the time Richard spent waiting around!

the football game was good for team morale, they won today 9:1, and Robert scored a goal!! Woohoo! Go Robert! After the game, the opposing team, did something really nice, but something that didn't  thrill me. They gave all the kids an ice-cream! Which meant instead of leaving at 6.45pm, I had to WAIT again for the kids to finish the ice-cream, I was not a happy chappy, but they meant well! Here are the boys trying to eat the ice-cream quicker than usual!

I had the boys in bed by 7.45pm though! And Richard has his new cream on, so we'll see how long it takes to work! Fingers crossed!
CU tomorrow

PS: I updated yesterdays post with the picture of the beans!

Day 144

For once an uneventful day! Work in the morning. And lunch and homework, we went next door to celebrate our neighbour's son's Holy Communion. Which basically means - sit around with friends and chat and eat plenty of cake! Well, I only had two small pieces, but wow, there was a huge choice!
The boys played outside with all the kids that were there, and we all had a nice relaxing afternoon.

And now I had to find a picture for my blog...the cat isn't home, out catching mice probably, although this morning we had feathers to get rid of in the hall. I have photos of the beans growing, but the computer isn't playing nice tonight, so the photo will have to wait until tomorrow. Cause otherwise who knows when I would get to bed!

Update: yesterdays picture of our windowsill greenhouse!

CU tomorrow

Day 143

Monday morning again, I don't know how Florian does it, but he left the house as my alarm clock was ringing at 6am! I put off getting up til 6.20am and then I had to get up! The boys had a hard time waking up too, and I felt like such a mean Mummy waking them! Richard was still snoring, he was so sound asleep! But I did get them up, awake, breakfasted and to the bus stop on time! I dropped Richard off at Kindergarden and made my way to work. Nothing to report from there (I still have a new computer, so I wasn't dreaming)!

When I came home from work after picking Richard up at Kindergarden, Robert was again sat outside, he owned up this week though, that he forgot to stay at school for the extra lesson...I hope he isn't going to make this a habit! I didn't get too cross with him, I did try and make him understand why it wasn't a good idea, not sure it made any sense to him though. I did get cross with him at tea time though, when he tried to tell me that he had told me about some writing homework, and I had ignored him. HE told me he had ONLY some reading homework, which we did in the garden, and then they got to play in the paddling pool. Little monster! I'm sure he decided not to tell me, so that he could play sooner...well, tomorrow morning before school, guess what Robert will be doing...yep whilst Richard watches 10minutes of TV, Robert will be doing his homework!

Back to the paddling pool, today they kept filling their water pistols to fill the hole they have been digging all autumn, winter and spring. They made a lovely mess!

At 4pm I made them stand in the leftover water and try and wash the dirt off! Cause it was time for their swimming lesson! They did really well today, she took them in the deep pool, and Robert even got to jump off of one of the starting blocks! Afterwards she offered that we can come back for one more lesson on Friday, where hopefully Richard will brave the water without any swimming aids. Cause today Robert passed his "Seepferdchen" which is the first swimming test in Germany. He doesn't know he has yet, she only told me, cause she would like Richard to get his too, and then tell them both. But I am pretty proud of him!

No football after swimming today, so it was home, then tea, then shower and then bed for the boys! And I am now going to make some placemats for Robert's b-day party on Saturday! That should keep me busy!
CU tomorrow

Day 140, Day 141 and Day 142

Well I have had a fun and busy weekend, so much so, that I never got around to blogging, but I'm home now and will bring this blog up to date

Day 140 (Friday)
Mmh so long ago, I'm not sure I remember! Katrin popped around in the morning, she wanted to borrow something and have one of the pics I took of her son printed. She stopped for a coffee and a chat. Then when she had gone I went shopping, we had run out of apple juice, and that just is not good around here!

In the afternoon Katrin and Sabine and the kids all came round, they didn't play quite as nicely as on Thursday, but I think they all still had fun. Whilst we were chatting I mentioned that I hadn't got my sandals out yet, as I needed to get Florian to paint my toenails first, and Katrin offered to do them then and there. I said no, cause it always tickles, she reckoned she could do it without touching my feet at all! And she can! And I can now wear my sandals again!

OH and this is what the boys found on the windowsill at teatime

yep, one of the beans had made it out of the jar (and today on Sunday three out of four are out of the jar, I'll post a picture again, when No. 4 makes it out!)

Florian didn't get home today until 10.30pm...(and I just forgot to blog)

Day 141 (Saturday)
Today it was Open Day at the police headquarters and we went there. It was good fun, we got there at about 11.30am and didn't leave until 3pm so it must have been good!
There was all sorts of police vehicles there, and we had a good look at most.

We saw a police dog show, and I even got a shot of the dog jumping through fire, shame I'm not 5cm taller though!

The boys did a cycling challenge thingy and got a certificate for joining in,

And we also saw the cells, and on the way to them, we met a Bobby!

It was great. We would have liked to have seen a demonstration they put on in the afternoon, but the boys had had enough by then and just wanted to go to see their cousins. So off we went.
The boys stayed with their cousins last night, whilst Florian and I drove down to where Mum and Dad live to a friends Birthday party. We stopped in to see Mum and Dad too. It was a great evening, it was so good to see everyone again, for most of them it was about a year since we last met up, so it was good to catch up again! We was quite late leaving and didn't get home til nearly 2am!

Day 142 (Sunday)
After a nice peaceful lay in (well it would have been if I had remembered to turn my alarm clock off!), Florian drove around to get the boys, whilst I made up a little picnic. Then it was time to meet up to go to the football game. Well, once there the football game turned into a football tournament and it was a very good job, that I had taken a picnic, cause we were there until gone 3pm! Oh and we lost, but I think the kids all had fun, and when they all got a trophy they were happy! Here they are warming up before the first game!

When we got home, we got the paddling pool out for the boys. They had fun re-discovering all their water pistols, etc.
At 5.30pm I left Florian and the boys on their own, and went down south to meet up with my friends. We went to our usual restaurant, and I had a very delicious Schnitzel with a cheesy spicy sauce and chips! Again I hadn't seen the girls since probably last September, so we had a lot of catching up to do. But as we all have quite a drive to meet, we wasn't late home, and so I can blog tonight and not wait until tomorrow!

But now I am off to bed, still need to catch up on the sleep we missed last night!
CU tomorrow

Day 139

English lesson this monring, but it seemed that by the time I got there, the kids were already worn out, and they weren't really taking much in. That said, they remembered more than I had expected them too, from last week to this, so maybe next week, I'll be pleasantly surprised again!

Robert's foot was on the mend this morning, he tried out his limp again, but I told him to forget that, as that would just make his leg and bum hurt, and reminded him of the football training yesterday and he was OK again! Kids!
This afternoon Robert went to play with his friend and Richard and I joined Katrin in her garden. The kids played really nicely together, which meant Katrin and I got to relax! Very nice! Here is Richard playing nicely....chasing Katrin's son with a bucket of water.... but honest, they were having fun!

Spent most of the evening scrapping - Dad's birthday tomorrow, and I made a card for Mum for him. I hope he won't mind that I never got one done for him...the boys did send him one though! Hopeless I am! I also started work on my last layout for ADSR, I have an idea, have sorted out the pictures, now I just have to re-read the rules, before I get too far into the layout!
CU tomorrow

Day 138

Happy Birthday Mum! Love you lots and lots!

First thing I did after getting the kids off to school and Kindergarden was to phone Mum up and sing to her...just what she needed to hear at 8am ;o)
Then it was a bit of housework - clean floors, then I got all the empty bottles together and actually remembered to take them to Aldi today - I have been investing a LOT of money in empty bottles again! When I went to put them in the boot of the car, I realised that Richard was at Kindergarden without his sandwich, so I stopped there on my way to shopping.
Shopping at Aldi on a Wednesday is great, cause there are no new offers, at 8.30am I am normally one of maybe 5 customers, so quiet and calm, its just fun! I got a pair of football boots for Robert - he doesn't need them just yet, but at €8.99 I can wait for him to grow into them! I have a feeling it won't be long!

After shopping Sabine, Katrin and I were meeting for a coffee (apple juice for me), it has been a while since we had a nice relaxing morning together - it did us all good. But before we met up, Sabine and Katrin got Kindergarden some tadpoles and a small frog! REAL ones! We saw the kids later in the morning marching down to the stream in the village to set them free again. Richard was so excited about it all!

After lunch, I had a phone call, my English student couldn't make it today she had a tummy bug, I am so glad she stayed away with that, we don't need that! So we went in the garden and whilst the boys had an ice-cream I got on with the lawn-mowing! It was getting a bit long - pretty, but too long! But now it looks very smart.
I finished the mowing in time to get the boys ready for football training and the MIRACLE recovery!
So whilst I was mowing Robert was scooting around on his scooter - the pain in is ankle completely forgotten as soon as he realised I was around though, his very prominent limp was back...so funny!
I asked if he wanted to play football, if he thought he could, he ummed and ahhed over it and said, yes he wanted to play... and you should have seen him run on the pitch, not a limp in site! MIRACULOUS!
We'll see how it is in the morning!

Often during the day the boys and I checked on the beans, and you could almost watch them grow. I love this project. And here is a picture I got of one of them at teatime - all of the side roots are new today, amazing!
CU tomorrow

Day 137

Quite a different sort of day than expected. Yesterday at the football game, someone hurt Robert's ankle, at halftime I had to kiss it better and he said it was really sore, but once halftime was over he was ready for the second half and played until the end. I never thought anymore of it....until this morning! He got out of bed, and was instantly in tears and couldn't stand on his right foot. Poor thing. So guess what, it was a trip to the doctors for us. Our doctor isn't there this week, so we had to go into town to a different doctor. The problem with that was, that in town I can't park right outside the door...what to do...Mum remembered that we still have the pram, so pram it was, much to Robert's disgust. He did not want everyone thinking he was a baby, but having to walk, hop or hobble all the way there wasn't an option.
The doctor checked his ankle, and it is just bruised. He prescribed some cream and creamed and bandaged it for Robert. By this afternoon he was walking a bit better - he was very brave.

This afternoon we went to a puppet show. We took Robert's friend with us, here they all are, waiting for it to start. We got there early thinking we would have to fight for seats, but nope, not many there at all, so when I took this picture we were actually almost on our own!

After the puppet show the boys all said they wanted to go again tomorrow...I think I need to keep a look out for another show! On our way home we went to the Kindergarden playground for half an hour playtime, Robert did limp a lot but they had fun! Look how high they can go!

CU tomorrow

Day 136

Another one of those days, that sensible people would spread out over the week, but us, we did it all in one day!
Work in the morning, and wow, what a surprise I got when I arrived - I got a new computer, finally my typing keeps up with my fingers!! Never thought I would see the day!
Work (the whole day actually) was a bit difficult, sometime between getting up and leaving the house this morning I trapped a nerve somewhere just below my shoulder blade in my back. Ouch it hurts. This morning it was its worst, certain movements and breathing...ouch! But no time to sit and hurt, at 3pm we had a meeting at Kindergarden about the trip planned for June - the bus is too expensive, so we need to come up with a cheaper alternative...more about that when we do! Left there at 3.30pm to go to swimming lessons with the kids. I went swimming too, in the hope that whatever was/is trapped in my back came untrapped. I swam 10 lengths, it hurt a bit, but I think it is a bit better since then.
Straight from swimming it was time for football - another game! We stopped home before driving up to the field, in the hope (well my hope) it was cancelled. But it hadn't rained enough to be rained off, so off we went to play the game!
The kids played a good game, but the other team were much better and we lost 1:9 - oops!
Richard didn't seem to upset, he was a subsitute for the last part of the game and he picked a lovely bunch of large daisies, so when the game finished he came over and said "Did we win?!" Bless him!

Speaking of flowers, as I never had time to get a picture during the day, I just took one of the bouquet Richard and I picked yesterday - Lily of the Valley, they smell delicious!

CU tomorrow

Day 135

Robert was up at 6am again, but he obviously did listen to me last night, cause he went back to bed after a visit to the toilet and when he got up at 7am he DIDN'T wake Richard! Richard came and gave me a cuddle at 7.45am so he did get a bit of a lay in! At about 8am he decided to join Robert downstairs, and I stayed in bed...So a bit of a lay in for Florian and me!

Florian took the boys out on their bikes twice today, once in the morning and once in the afternoon and both times, they returned cause it was raining! The morning trip wasn't too bad, hardly any rain at all, but look at them coming back from their trip this afternoon!

They were all soaked and had to put dry clothes on! I knew to look out for them, cause the cat came in out of the rain too. So when he came to be dried, I grabbed the camera and went to the front door - perfect timing too, there they were!

Between bike rides, the boys played on the Wii, watched Scrapheap Challenge, and played "Sorry" with me. That's a board game, that is nearly as old as I am! But still a great game, the boys loved it!
I spent most of my day, catching up on the washing. My machine was playing up this week and would only wash every other day...it wasn't getting any water. Well I got Florian to look at it this morning. He pulled it away from the wall and literally "looked at it" couldn't see anything out of the ordinary and put it back where it belonged. And so far so good, I washed 5 loads!! I also did all the ironing as it came, and am all caught up!

Watching Willi Wonka now, feel like I am 10 again, and I think I may have to go and get myself some chocolate now!
CU tomorrow

Day 134

Why is it that throughout the week, when they have to get up early, they want to sleep, and the day when they could actually sleep a bit longer, they are up before my alarm - which went off at 6am! I woke up to lots of shouting coming from downstairs! GRRRRRR!!! They better not play the same game in the morning!

As it was though getting up that early proved a good thing, cause Florian's flight arrived 40 minutes earlier than planned, and we had to leave here at 7.30 to get there on time. We got to the airport at the same time as Florian! But we did have to wait a little bit as he got his luggage!

After that we went to see Mum and Dad. LOVE their new lounge, but silly me never got the camera out again all day after taking the one picture at the airport!
Mum and I went into town, I wanted to go to Zeeman (a very cheap shop) to get some party treats for Robert's Birthday Party in a couple of weeks. I got some real bargains and something completely different for their treats. Haven't shown Robert, so it'll be a surprise for him too!

We stayed for lunch, Mum did a bbq in the oven! Delicious, she also made corn on the cob - Richard LOVED it! (I really should have got my camera out!) We stayed and played until about 4 and then made our way home! Florian is doing really well, he has fallen asleep less today than on a normal Saturday, in fact he is still awake, and only slept through 3 songs of the Eurovision Song Contest ( one of them being Blue, the English entry!)

CU tomorrow

Day 133

Ok, so first of all where did Wednesday and Thursday disappear too?! gone, strange, I certainly didn't delete them, and I am not sure I can reconstruct them either...
I can repost the pictures, of those days, but mmh, what did I do?! Oh well I'll start with today and try and reconstruct the missing days at the end of this post.

Friday (Day 133)
Got to Kindergarden at the usual bright and early time of 7.30am and was going to stay there and collect a lot of signatures for our letter, but after speaking to the "head kindergarden teacher" we have decided to wait a week or two before making a noise, in the hope that maybe just maybe they have started thinking about what they might be doing to the kids! I will still be collecting signatures, but just as and when I see the parents.

My friend Sabine popped around and together we phoned our skin doctor and swapped appointments, so Richard now has an appointment for Wednesday week instead of the end of July. I was a very happy chappy! This afternoon more weeding in the garden and then off to the sports field for the boys football game. They were very excited about it, as last time we played this team we won, well this time we won too - 10:1 (but we only scored 7 of those goals!) This is Richard in full concentration!

Oh at lunchtime the bank impressed me. I had a phone call from them asking to talk to Florian about his creditcard (they quoted the last 4 digits), when I said he wasn't in, they asked for him to call back as soon as possible. They made me a bit nervous, so I asked if they were blocking his card or such, cause at the minute he is in the States and may well need it, so just how important is it that he call. He told me, that the number is available 24 hours a day and that getting in touch with Florian would be a good idea! Luckily the time difference was on my side and Florian was already up. I called gave him the number and he called them back. It is apparently the bank's safety net, and they were checking to make sure that Florian still had the card, as the last transaction required some sort of identifiation to be provided and as that didn't happen, they were checking it hadn't been stolen. Wow, not a bad service, I'm impressed!

So now the missing posts

Thursday (Day 132)
English lesson in the morning, Kindergarden emergency meeting about one of the kindergarden teachers having to leave us in July in the afternoon - oh and I never got a picture, cause I was sat in the middle of things. So I snuck up into the boys bedroom in the evening pinched their favourite teddies and took their picture! And here it is!

Wednesday (Day 131)
I remember writing about it being a really busy busy day and posting all the things I did, but I can't really remember them all now. I know I had library in the morning, went shopping, picked up Richard, made some important phone calls, gave English tutoring, rushed off to football training, went for a nice long walk whilst the boys played, bathed them, put them to bed, got my next English lesson ready and fell into bed... I think that was it! And what picture did I post....mmmh....oh yep, I remember .. half of the booklets for the English lesson!

OK all back up to date again, but I'm still hoping that Blogger gives me back the missing posts!
CU tomorrow

Day 132

English lesson this morning (and yep I did finish making my little booklets for them all) today I thought playing "I went to the shops and I bought..." would be fun. A couple of the boys didn't and when they insisted on laying on the bench banging their heads together, I took them back into the groups...and then the girls and I actually had some fun learning! I have decided to take the "very hungry little caterpillar" all the way through to the end of term and at the end we will perform it for the parents, wish me luck!

This afternoon we had a "meeting" at the playground with all the other parents from Kindergarden. Another of our kindergarden teachers has to leave (they are not renewing her contract) and as this is the FOURTH to have to go in THREE years, we are not letting them get away with it without a fight. So we were at the playground planning our actions! For now we have composed a letter (well I wrote it and everyone agreed to it, with a couple of additions) for the mayor and the town council, which tomorrow I will get everyone to sign and we will send off. Keep your fingers crossed that we don't have to say goodbye to our BEST kindergarden teacher at the end of July!

The kids all had a great time at the playground and I fully intended to take lots of pictures whilst there, BUT as I got there first by the time everyone had arrived, I was sat in the middle at the picnic table there and never got out to get any photos. Mmh so what to post for my daily picture...well, I have just been up to the boys room and "borrowed" Baby Sheep and Teddy - I need a picture of the two of them for Challenge 13 of the ADSR, so here is my picture for today, two other members of our family!

CU tomorrow

Day 131

OK, be prepared, this post might wear you out, just like the day wore me out! So after staying up late last night, in the hope to get to talk to Florian (silly time difference), I only got 5 hours sleep and no phone call! So at 6am I was awake and stopped ignoring the alarm at 6.20am. This morning Richard was in a better mood, which was GREAT! First job on the agenda, library duty at Robert's school. That was good fun, in the school break, I was called in to be a photographer, and took a class photo for one class there. That was fun too, I love getting to move people and put them in the right place for a group picture!
After the library I had to go shopping, as I had to do two different shops, it took a bit longer than expected, but I was still in time to get Richard at Kindergarden on time. No complaints about lunch today, so Richard was still in a good mood, phew. (we had fish and croquet potatoes). After lunch, I had to sort out some hiccup in the car payment, then straight after that my pupil came for some English tutoring. As tired as I am, I found it quite difficult to get the answers right too, and then to explain it, poor girl! When she left it was time for the boys football training. Whilst they were training I did too, well I went for a nice long walk with my friend and her dog! Then it was home for tea, bathtime and bed for the boys. I got Richard some body oil in town in the hope that that will smooth his poor skin, as my appointment for the skin doctor is not until JULY! At times like these being privately insured would be good...!
After the kids were in bed, a friend popped round for the pictures I had taken at school, and once she was gone I had to prepare my English lesson for tomorrow, and I have just finished that now! Well almost I still have to fold another 9 of these vocabulary booklets, but that can wait now til tomorrow!

I'm off to bed now, I got to talk to Florian this afternoon, so I don't need to wait up tonight.
CU tomorrow

Day 130

Richard got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, and if I thought he would be better after Kindergarden - I was WRONG! It started with an argument over what he was going to wear, I had got him a lovely new shirt out to wear, and I even managed to put it on him without any sort of fuss, but once on, the trouble started. He refused to continue to get dressed, made himself all floppy so I had no hope in getting any trousers on him, and then proceeded to undo all the buttons and take off the shirt....I gave in and got him a T-shirt out, but he didn't want that one either!!! In the end I left both kids to it, and went downstairs to get breakfast ready. Still no Richard so back up I went and he was still stood there in just his pyjama bottoms! I finally managed to get him dressed, and the drama continued at breakfast. WE have run out of Coco Pops, and Richard refused to have anything else, I dished up Honey chips and left him to it. He did eat them, but only after I had left the room!
I even checked the calendar to see what the moon was up to, but its not the moon's fault!
After lunch ANOTHER paddy, something to do with a straw, not really sure what it was about, but it involved a LOT of screaming at Robert. I let Robert come downstairs to do his homework, and told Richard to come down when he had found "Happy Richard" again! He did apologise when he came down, and for most of the afternoon all went well, it was bedtime when the next paddy occured. Tonight they did "Eeny Meeny Miney Mo" to determine what we read, and the book Richard wanted to read didn't win. So he sat there with his fingers in his ears making noises - MONSTER! Hopefully tomorrow he'll be in a better mood!

Like I said though most of the afternoon was OK, and both boys were especially excited about our "bean project". Seeing how interested Richard is at the moment in all things growing. Mum and Dad gave both boys two beans and a jam jar each, and we "planted" them today!

Soon we should see them grow in both directions! Even I am excited about this one, as I can remember doing it when we were young!
After planting them we went in the garden and I did a LOT of weeding out the front. The basket was full of weeds, but unfortunately when you look at the garden from the road you can't really tell, that I have been busy, but I am hoping by the weekend, I will have made an impact. We'll see!

Vampire Diaries and 90210 tonight, if I don't fall asleep first!
CU tomorrow

Day 129

Good day at work today - didn't see the boss! This afternoon after homework, we went outside for the boys to water their plants that they got from Mum yesterday and then I let them have an ice-cream before it was time to go swimming. Today I took my camera with me, and when I had finished my laps, I tried to get a couple of pictures of the boys swimming. I nearly drowned Richard doing this though, cause as soon as he saw me with the camera he forgot to keep swimming - bless him! Oh and both are swimming without armbands now!

Richard and the swimming instructor

Robert!

Waiting their turn

Not much to report after swimming - tea, bathtime, bedtime, Glee!
CU tomorrow

Day 128

We had to take Florian to the airport today, he is flying to the States for work. Instead of only throwing him out of the car, we parked and took him right to the check in. The boys pulled his suitcase for quite a while, so cute!

After Florian checked in (with a bit of a hiccup on the Electronic checking in, the machine we chose wasn't printing the boarding cards!) there was another hiccup. The police were clearing the area...some "idiot" had left a bag unattended, and everyone had to be cleared from there! Scary really so shortly after Bin Laden being killed. But it must have been a false alarm, cause Florian sent a text later that when he went back that way all was back to normal.
We all went on to my brothers for a BBQ and to spend the day. And wow the weather was gorgeous, so much so, that this is what the kids ended up doing!

We left about 6pm and I took the boys for tea at McDonalds, or as they call it "Old MacDonalds", I had some vouchers for Happy Meals. I think though they were actually more interested in the toy they got with it - a dynamo Sponge Bob torch!

I spent the evening trying to complete Challenge 12 of the ADSR, I did it, not sure if I like it, but it's done and posted now!
CU tomorrow

Day 127

Summer is back, so guess what - BBQ again!!! But first this morning I went shopping for something to put on the BBQ and I got some baguette for lunch, as we weren't bbq'ing til the evening!
After lunch Florian played with the boys, first we all played Rummikub, then Florian took the boys out on their bikes for a ride. Richard made them stop quite often to collect things, and Florian got these pics on one of their stops!

I think they had fun!
At about 5.30pm Florians sister and girls joined us for our bbq, which was as always delicious. I made 4 different salads, and we had steak, sausages and "Grillfackel" (I'll take a picture of them next time we have them!)
CU tomorrow

Day 126

Me time this morning! I had to go into town to get Florian some dollars as he is going to the States next week for work, so I made the most of being in town. I started at C&A and got three new tops (remember my cupboard is a bit empty and needs filling) then I had a little look around Karstadt (department store) and got a birthday present for my niece. her birthday isn't until October but it was a bargain, that I couldn't resist. A playmobil mobile home for 20 Euros instead of 45! Bargain!
From there I wandered up to another clothes store, but there was nothing there I fancied, it was a much smaller store than the one near Mum, shame Mum said they had some good bargains there too, but not at our one! And then on my way back to the car, I popped in the bookstore and got my nieces their Easter present. A book each! And on my way out of there I noticed that they actually had a table full of English paperbacks and one of those paperbacks was one that a scrapping site is reviewing, I took it as "meant to be" and bought the book, but I doubt I'll be joining the chat on the 17th May, as it is at 3.30am my time! But the bookstore will know that having English books is a good thing and keep it up!!
Then it really was time to stop spending and go home!

In the afternoon we spent time with my friends and then it was time to go and pick Florian up at the station. From there were stopped in town again. We have a visitor staying with us "Stanley" - Stanley has come all the way from the States to visit and we took him sightseeing! (A scrapping friend's son's class is doing a project, where a paper doll travels, and we offered to take him here) Here some of his favourite moments in our town!

Notice that we stopped for an ice-cream. And after that on our way back to the car, we changed our minds about going home and went for a pizza! We went to a place where we used to go a LOT before we had kids, and we think it was the first time we had been since Robert being here. The Pizza is still as good as it used to be. Yummy!
 Florian is snoring on the couch next to me, I think it is time for bed....I was up at 5.30am with Richard this morning, he dreamt he needed the toilet...need I say more! (I don' think he'll forgive me later in life for letting the world know...but never mind!)
CU tomorrow!