Paris, Day 2

The second morning we planned to visit Notre Dame Cathedral first. We plugged in the GPS and I searched for the cathedral, found it and compared the street address from my travel book, then we headed out. After about 15-20 minutes we realized we were still really out in the country (our hotel was near Disneyland Paris) with no city in sight. I checked the gps map and realized that it was routing us to another Notre Dame cathedral with the same street name, but in a different city, well not really a city at all, a small country town the opposite direction of Paris. Since we were already almost there we decided to go ahead and see it, and I'm glad we did. It was so beautiful, and the little cobblestone streets and century old houses were enchanting.

Paris, Day 1

Last weekend we visited Paris! (I'm a little behind since we just got the Internet hooked up). It was a different experience from the last time I visited there. Being 7 months pregnant with 3 small children makes everything more difficult and takes longer than expected. We still had a wonderful time exploring the city and I have lots of photos to prove it! Here is day 1:

New Home

We finally "closed" on our new house! House hunting was quite discouraging because all the ones we were really excited about were already rented by the time we called on them. We found two other houses we loved, one was way out in the country with amazing views, but would require quite a drive to work each day. The other, a tad closer with a fabulous yard, had no practical way to get from the garage to the house. The front of the house was turned into a separate apartment and was not connected to the interior of the house, so to get in the house you have to enter in at the basement and walk up a flight and a half of stairs. Less than ideal.

The house we chose is an older home but very large for a German home (5bd, 4ba) and has an even larger yard (no.1 requirement for a houseful of boys). It doesn't look like much from the front (most German houses are well shrouded by trees and bushes) but the backyard is amazing. It's located in a little village on the border of Kaiserslautern city limits completely surrounded by forest. There are trails everywhere, so although we're only a few minutes out of the city it feels much further. There's a nice forest path that leads from our street to the woods where there is a Spielplatz for the kids to play.

Worms (the city, not the invertebrate)

This weekend we visited a bazaar on post which had vendor products from all over. We settled on some delicious homemade jellies and jams and amazing melt-in-your-mouth truffles.

Then we took a trip to IKEA to purchase some lights and things for our new house (lights and kitchens are often separate in German homes- fortunately we have a kitchen, even if it does have the world's smallest sink, but the lights were insufficient). I don't think I've ever seen IKEA quite this crowded before, it was a madhouse and we waited in line a good half an hour to checkout.

Although we were pretty exhausted by this point, were were so close to Worms, the place where Martin Luther made his famous declarations at the Diet of Worms. So we decided to head up for a visit of the beautiful town. It rained off and on the entire time, but fortunately it wasn't very cold.

Burg Nanstein

This weekend we went to visit another local castle, Burg Nanstein. It started lightly snowing as we began the long walk up to the fortress. Although it was chilly, it was nice because we were the only people on the trail.

Burg Nanstein was built in 1162 and was defeated during the Knight's Revolt in 1523. It is quite an impressive fortress and is built on the highest hill in the valley, it's hard to imagine attacking it and succeeding. There are several underground tunnels and winding staircases and beautiful views of the villages below.

Grant is three!

My little boy is three today! Grant has brought so much joy to our family. He is constantly smiling and laughing and being silly. He is a smart and often devious little guy, but his cuteness makes up for it.

What is your favorite color?

Blue

What do you like to play with?

A race car, steamroller, and a truck

What is your favorite food?

Carrots

What's your favorite song?

Child of God

What makes you happy?

God, Jesus and treats

Unstructured play, fostering creativity

The past 6 weeks have taught me the value of unstructured play time.  I tend to be a major multi-tasker and like to have things scheduled and planned out. However, living in a house with no furniture, no television, no computer (at least for the first few weeks) and virtually no toys, has helped me learn to relax a bit and be more flexible.

Not having a TV frees up hours and hours of time available to live life rather than escape from it. Rather than resorting to that in the evening to relax, we cuddle up with books. The boys don't really have any toys and it's been very interesting to see their little imaginations kick into gear.

Joshua has totally thrived on this unstructured time. He is very creative and loves to "invent" things and this free time has really give him the freedom to use his imagination. He takes every cardboard box he can find and creates new inventions with them. He is constantly finding things around the house to balance and build with. The boys go on adventures in the backyard and spend more time exploring outside. Ethan typically spends half the day reading or working on the few school books we have and Grant plays with his stuffed doggie or roams around in the yard. We take more time to go to the park, the zoo, the bookstore and library and just have fun together. Amazingly, I haven't heard the phrase "I'm bored" a single time.

I for one am ready to get back to a schedule and routine, but it has been nice to take a break and just enjoy being together without any pressures or demands. I hope when we get settled in our new home and new schedule I can remember the value of letting their little imaginations run free and allow more unstructured play time.

First week in Germany, Burg Hohenecken

We have been in Germany almost a full week, it sure seems like longer. Jetlag sure takes a toll when you're pregnant, the other three time I came here I adjusted within a day or two, yet I'm still waking up in the middle of the night and needing naps in the day. Hoping my body will adjust soon.

Our car finally arrived however we can't pick it up until tomorrow so we rented a sweet Mercedes (has an on/off feature anytime you put on the brakes it shuts off and restarts when you hit the gas) to go house hunting. We've found some absolutely beautiful homes, only problem is they require a commute which we're not too excited about. We have found one house in the city with a massive back yard, and are hoping to get a deposit put down before anyone else snatches it up. All the houses within city limits are taken a day or two after they're listed so it's been a bit discouraging.

The house that we are hoping to rent is just a few miles away from this Burg Hohenecken so of course we had to stop and see it. There are 3 or 4 old castle ruins right around us but I think this is one of the biggest, believed to be built around 1200. There's a beautiful old church near the castle and it's quite the hike to the top. I was not prepared for how steep it was, but the view from the top was spectacular. The leaves are just changing and we've had unseasonably warm weather, it's just been perfect so far, just can't wait to get settled.

Baby Girl Essentials

Having a girl after three boys will be quite a change for our family and I've been trying to plan all the things I'll need for her. I love to sew and used to sew all the time but frankly boys aren't all that fun to sew for and life just got too busy. The first thing I did when I found out this baby would "possibly" be a girl was to go out to Etsy and order a boatload of fabric (LOVE Riley Blake fabrics!) and I even got myself a new sewing machine since it is going to get a lot of use over the next few years.

Over the next few months I will share some of the fun girly projects I'm making, but first I wanted to share some of my favorite baby girl products sold on Etsy. There are some stinking cute things out there for girls!

Adorable handmade shoes: have you ever seen anything so darling? As soon as these come back in stock they are mine.

Six

My oldest son is six today! I can't believe how time has flown since I held him as a tiny little baby in New Hampshire. He is growing up into such a handsome, intelligent and kind young man and we couldn't be more pleased with the person he is becoming.

What is your favorite thing to do?

Play stack the countries, read, swim and make new friends

What is your favorite scripture?

John 14:15

If you could travel anywhere where would you go?

Germany, because I want to see all the fun places

Who are your closest friends?

Akili, Zuri, Bailey, Ellie, Sophia, Mckenna, Savannah, Chelsey, Bill, Ethan & Aaron

What do you want to do for work when you grow up?

Be a doctor and surgeon

Let the shopping begin!

It's official! After waiting 6 long months we finally found out for sure...
we are having a girl!

I was so happy she cooperated better this time and since the ultrasound tech was 100% sure this time (rather than only 80% sure) she said it was definitely a girl. Phew! I was beginning to have dreams of alien babies ;)

Immediately following our appointment we headed up to the outlet mall in Indiana for our last shopping spree in the United States.








Here is the damage done, although it wasn't all for baby girl, some of it was for her brothers and yes, some of it was for me (I can still fit into regular clothes for a few more weeks...)




And here are the pink results! It's first time I've ever bought girly things and it wasn't for someone else's baby.

the Boys

I took the boys downtown for their last pictures in Kentucky, love these handsome guys!

Kindle Fire + Starfall, the perfect homeschool tools

We just added a Kindle Fire to our homeschool tools/toys and couldn't be more pleased with it (after dealing with a few hiccups that is).

I purchased this for two purposes:
1. So Grant can access Starfall.com without needing a mouse (kind of difficult for a 2 year old to navigate)
2. So Ethan can read his Ambleside Online books

I am most excited about my little guys being able to access Starfall easier. Ethan taught himself to read when he was three using Starfall and it's so much better now that it was then. If you have little ones and you aren't yet using this resource, I highly recommend purchasing the $30 yearly subscription to More Starfall, it is hands down the best educational resource you can get for children ages 2-4. Now my boys will be able to use all the Starfall features without having to sit on my lap while I help navigate the mouse. Yipee!

I also love that almost all of the classical education books we read for school are available for free or very low cost in the Kindle store. Normally I love to buy real books, I dream of having a huge library someday, but for now, especially with moving overseas, the less baggage I have to bring the better, so this is perfect. We can study anytime, anywhere. And we will be doing our "homework" all over Europe.

Now, if you don't yet have a Kindle and you plan on buying one, you'll need to be sure to read the bottom of this post because the new Kindle Fire DOES NOT support Flash, even though they claim to include support and the option is enabled in the browser, it will not work on flash sites. It took me hours of searching before I found the solution that actually worked and was very close to returning this one and trying to buy a used older model. If you're not good with computers- then you better try and find a used first generation kindle, otherwise follow the steps below and you'll be ecstatic when you can view all your favorite educational sites in Flash and your kids won't have to use the mouse!

Favorite Educational/Homeschool iPhone/iPad Apps

I love using educational games to reinforce learning and make it fun. After mastering Shake the States, my almost 6 year old has been enjoying playing Stack the Countries on my phone. I thought it was too advanced for him at first, since it quizzes them on every country in every continent including what their flags look like and capital cities. He asked me for a lot of help at first and unfortunately I didn't know most of the answers, however as time went on he learned by playing and actually completed the entire game earning every country on every continent. The other day he brought me his drawing notebook and showed me the pictures he drew of different countries and states. He doesn't pronounce or spell each one perfectly but still I am surprised how much he actually remembers and retains from playing a simple game.

I usually let each child have 20 minutes of game time a day and often use it as leverage to get them to do things they don't really want to do. Here are a few of my favorite homeschooling apps for the iPhone and iPad. What are your favorite apps? Any recommendations for Kindle/Android apps? I have yet to find any I love...

Ages 2 and under

Starfall ABC's  Free
Counting with the Very Hungry Caterpillar  $1.99
Kids Can Match Animals $0.99
ABC Wheels $1.99
iKnow Phonics ABC's Free
Giraffe's Matching Zoo Free
Alphabet Tracing Free

Ages 3-4

Teach Me Kindergarten $1.99
Bob Books $1.99
SuperWhy $2.99
Preschool Island Adventure $0.99
Park Math $1.99
ABC Magic Free
iWrite Words Free Lite Version, $2.99 Full Version
Numberland $2.99

Ages 4-6

Shake the States $1.99
Stack the Countries $1.99
Teach Me 2nd Grade $1.99
Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader Free
Brain Pop Free
Brain Quest Free
Jungle Time $0.99
ABC Cursive Writing Free

Fun Reference Apps

Chirp! Bird Songs USA $2.99
Counting Bills & Coins Free
Planets Free
Discover Musical Instruments $1.99
Dinosaurs: The American Museum of Natural History Collections Free

Girl or Boy?

This is the ultrasound photo I came home with today. The ultrasound tech said "it looks like a girl, but don't buy pink just yet". I am 22 weeks and have never waited this long before to know what I was having! This is my second ultrasound (the other at 18 weeks) and both times I was told, "it looks like a girl, but it's still too early to tell". 

So...what do you think? Girl? Boy? or alien baby?