Picnic in the Park

We are SO happy to have the girls out of school for the summer!!  We took advantage of a warm day by packing up lunch and heading down the street to the park.  Great fun!!  I enjoy my time alone with little R during the day, but I sure am glad to have the girls at home with us for a while!!  It seems like I just don't see them enough during the school year!!

Lunch in the swing?  I think so!

Peanut butter sandwich...everyday...same thing!

T took her turn reading in the swing.

Swingin'!  I think this is their favorite part of the playground, don't you?  I thought little R was about to fall asleep at one point! : )

He's a brave boy!

They LOVE this thing...you climb up on these rope things...and then the whole thing spins!  It was quite a workout for me pushing them around and around!!

"New" Recliner...

I picked up this comfy leather recliner from a family that was PCS'ing.  R has been singing the praises of having your very own chair for many years now, so this is now MY chair.  It is quite comfy...almost too comfy in fact!  Anji enjoys her fair share of time in it, too!

Gettin' settled in...

A BIG yawn!!

And this is EXACTLY what happens to me everytime I sit in this chair!! 

Father's Day

Yeah, I know...this one is a little late!

We had a very low key Father's Day this year.  We spent the day at home together as a family, and just enjoyed the down time.  R got some Thunder gifts, which made him very happy!

I am so thankful for the wonderful father R is to our kids.  He has sacrificed so much over the years to provide for our little family.  He is always willing to bathe, wrestle, help with homework...all we have to do is ask!  He is a devoted Daddy, and I am so thankful God brought us together and allowed us the pleasure (and trials) of parenting these 3 blessings together! 

We love you R!!  And no matter what stage each of our children are in...they always know their Daddy loves them!!

Opening gift from the girls...notice the OKC Thunder wrap??

Showing the gift to little R, to see if he knew what it said...he made Daddy proud and said Oklahoma Cityyyyy...Thunder! : )  I just noticed the Army boots in the corner...quite symbolic...he's a great Daddy, but always a soldier, too!  We are proud of the job he does in both roles!

Happy Daddy!!  Thunder and coffee together...HEAVEN!

Modeling one of his gifts from me...I actually found Thunder shirts in Tall sizes!!  I was ecstatic!!

Little R modeling another gift from me.  This little guy has some big shoes to fill...in more ways than one! : )

Medieval Festival!!

Last weekend we headed out to a Medieval Festival.  It's in a beautiful town called Horb am Neckar.  A pretty drive, and the town itself is absolutely beautiful, built right along the Neckar River.  The festival itself was VERY cool.  Lots of people dressed up in medieval costumes, lots of neat booths for shopping, and they even had jousting!  Little R was very excited about the jousting...but it was super crowded over there, and we were only able to watch from the bridge, so he didn't get to see much of it.  It was a super hot day (and we haven't had many of those so far), but it was sunny!!  R & T had some homamade potato chips, and big 'ol meat on a stick.  After much inspecting...we never did figure out what kind of MEAT it was...but they both agreed it was yummy! : )  A and I played it safe and ate fruit kebabs...YUMMY!  And little R decided to wait for a peanut butter sandwich in the van on the way home! : )

GREAT way to spend a Saturday!!!

Gettin' lubed up with sunscreen!

Stayin' in the shade...

This arch was one of the entryways into the town square...very neat!

The town is built on a hillside...lots of stairs going up to another level of houses.

Knights

Traditional German house...



The doorway was a little short for R...

Little R was amazed by these swords...he couldn't understand why we wouldn't buy one for him!!

Gettin' his tattoo...

All 3 showing off their new ink!  Do you see how it immediately made Little R "Mr. Tough Guy"??

These people don't have yards, but this is their view from their balcony...pretty!

LOTS of people ventured into the river to cool off.

Cool tents set up...and at the end of the tents were the tournaments...VERY crowded!

Pretty church at the top of the hill..

Little R on the carousel...being very serious.

Finally, he loosened up and enjoyed himself!

T conquering her "meat on a stick"!!

Just a reminder...

We have lots of rain here in Germany.  LOTS of rain!  We actually get excited when we see the sun...because at times it seems so rare.

Lately we've had some nice evening thundershowers.  I enjoy thunderstorms here...no threat of anything really severe, which is a nice change from OK weather.  We usually have some lightning and thunder, a little wind, and a lot of rain...and then it moves on. 

Twice lately after our evening thundershower, we have spotted a double rainbow.  Once we were on the road, but the other evening we were at home and I could grab the camera.

I love rainbows...God's promise.  I think its been clear that this move has been hard on us as a family, and we still aren't feeling like we fit in.  We are having a hard time finding our place in our new world, and because we have really struggled to find a church, it has seemed hard to find God over here.  It's a far cry from Edmond, where we were surrounded by Christian friends, a great church, and a great pastor.

But, God is here!  We know that!  We still believe there is a plan and a purpose for us being here.  And even though we are struggling to see that plan and purpose, we get these reminders that God is great, and he keeps his promises.  So for now we will enjoy these beautiful rainbows, and continue searching...

R's New Haircut

Little R has been in love with the mohawk for about a year now.  After he begged for months, I finally gave in and we got him a semi-mohawk.  Still long enough on the sides that it wasn't too noticeable.  We have done that one several times now, and while I don't love it, I tolerate it because Little R is SO happy with it! 

After going without the mohawk for a good while now, Little R decided about a month ago that he wanted it again, so R took him to the barber shop and got the regular, not-too-drastic mohawk.  After about 2 weeks, R decided he wasn't happy with it...so he took Little R into the bathroom one evening and gave him a "real" mohawk.  I have to first say that I totally don't like it!!  But Little R thinks he is just absolutely big stuff!!  Everytime he looks in the mirror, he smiles!  He will reach up and touch his hair and say "Is my mohawk still there?"  So for now, I will put on my smile, tell him how handsome he looks, and let him enjoy it!  But personally, I am hoping he wants his "summer" haircut back very soon!!

Not sure why the tongue had to be out, but he did this in all the pictures!

the rear view...

There's that tongue again...

Yeah, he's cool!

Disclaimer:  Please disregard the holey jeans!!  I never in my life thought MY child would wear jeans with holes in them!!  But his first week at his new German kindergarten, he came home with a hole in the knee of his jeans...I was devastated!  Since then he has done it to pretty much EVERY pair of pants or jeans that he has worn to school!  He is doing something that is destroying the left knee of every pair of his jeans!!  So, instead of buying new jeans every week...my boy is wearing holey jeans!  And I retract every judgmental, negative statement I have made and/or thought about "that Mom" who lets her kids walk around in tattered clothes!! : )

R's Latest Fascination

Playmobil toys are a big thing over here!  Little R has discovered them in the stores, and he always points out the ones he wants...but they are pricey, so he until now he hasn't gotten any.

I ran across someone selling a big set of Playmobil toys about a month ago, and I just had to get them for little R.  I wanted to wait until just the right time to give them to him, so on Thursday we cleaned his room up really good, and went through all of his toys.  He helped me clean his entire room, and came up with a pretty good size bag of things to give away, so I gave him his surprise Playmobil toys that I had been holding onto.  He was thrilled!!  He has played with them for hours each day since.  The child literally hasn't left the house all weekend...and has been perfectly content!  I was VERY concerned about all the tiny little pieces, but so far he has done a great job of picking up when he is done playing...let's hope that continues!

Quite proud of his first creation!  I only gave him part of the set at first...it was almost rest time, and he didn't get the full set until after rest time.

All set up!!

The dragon is eating a crab!

Proud little man!

He has always lined things up in neat little rows...