Chores- training little helpers

For the last few years I have hired wonderful teenagers to help me clean house because I was too overwhelmed with my small children to keep on top of it all. Since we have been in Germany I have not found anyone who lives close enough to help me and have been forced to go it alone.

I found that keeping everything picked up took so much time and these little boys could make messes faster than I could clean up, I knew I had to either teach them to help or hire outside help. After reading several helpful blog postings like Operation Chore Training, The Unlikely Homeschool and Confessions of a Homeschooler, as well as some great advice from my facebook friends I finally got my little guys trained and my house has been clean every day for more than a month now! Really!

Maison Cailler chocolate factory & Gruyère factory and castle tours

This day was definitely the highlight of our trip. I was excited to take the boys on a tour of the cheese and chocolate factory but did not anticipate how awesome it would really be. First of all, the way to reach these towns from Interlaken was through a seasonal mountain pass (very narrow and winding!) which had THE most amazing views.

This was taken with my iPhone, yes it really is THAT green here

First sewing lessons

My in-laws are in town for the next few weeks. We are so excited to see them. We're headed for a two week trip to Garmisch, Austria and Switzerland. I have a few scheduled posts while I'm gone and I'll share some pictures of our trip on facebook from time to time.

The other day Ethan's button came off his shorts and provided us with the perfect opportunity to learn to sew on a button! It took a few tries for his needle to find the button hole, but he was so proud of himself when he finally got it.