After another long day of house-hunting, Brad and I spent the evening putting together a short list of houses to see again on Saturday.  This is really hard.  In the past when we bought a house, we just looked at a few in our price range and picked the Least Gross House.  It was pretty simple.  

But this time, our price range is more generous, so we keep looking at great homes.  Instead of just choosing the Least Gross House, we are now looking for the Most Perfect House.  Is it snobby of me to say that?  Would it help if I said that I miss the Least Gross criteria?  It is way easier to identify Gross and try to avoid it than it is to identify Perfect and try to find it.

Today we looked at so many houses.  So very many, many houses.

This is a small taste of the many, many houses we looked at today. (Am I repeating myself?  Have I mentioned that we looked at many, many houses today?)  I'm pretty sure they all had kitchens, they probably all had bathrooms, and I'm guessing there were bedrooms.  At this point, it is all a big blur.

Adam and Jess spent some quality time at the pool today, and are both a little pinker for it, in spite of multiple applications of sun screen.  This is what happens when you emerge from nine months in The Land of Little Sun.

Today we drove and drove and drove around looking at possible areas to live.   I took this photo at lunch - isn't it all just so TEXAS?

(And thank you, Jess, for the Photo Bomb Face)

Well Menschen, we're not in Deutschland anymore.

After church, we drove around a bit so we could get a feel for the basic area.  Here is the view through the windshield - VERY different from lush, green, tree-filled Germany.  Jess wanted to know if Texas has been having a drought, and sadly we had to tell her that this is just how Texas is.  Plus, you just don't see pick-up trucks in Germany, so that is another big difference.  And the SPACE!  There is just so much SPACE everywhere.

Here is another sight we haven't seen in our 3 years in Germany - a country music radio station.  Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellem, and a bunch of new singers we don't even know yet...*sigh*...I'm home...

This morning, we flew to Texas to spend this next week house-hunting and checking out the area where we'll be moving this summer.  We arrived this afternoon, tired and jet-lagged, but otherwise excited to be back in the U.S.A.

Since Brad will be staying here to start his new job, we are staying in his temporary apartment.  It's quite a nice little place, and definitely more comfortable than a hotel.  After dropping off our luggage, we went to a nearby Walmart to stock up on a few things we'll need while we're here.

One of the things we "need" is American soda.  The kids are very excited to have root beer again.

Brad had a moment when he discovered the garbage disposal.  This is a modern convenience we have truly missed in Germany.  For some reason I can't fathom, there are no garbage disposals in Germany, which makes disposing of soggy cereal remnants an unnecessarily disgusting job (we usually try to flush it down the toilet, but it is all floaty, so it takes 3 or 4 flushes to get it down - plus if any bits of cereal slop onto the toilet rim, it grosses me out to try to redirect them into the bowl without touching the rim or getting soggy cereal mush all over my hands.  TMI?  Sorry).  It is so nice to dump the cereal mush in the sink, flip the switch, and watch it all disappear.  God Bless America.

This morning I went to Lukie's class production of "The Little Red Hen."  In case you can't tell, he was a chick.

In this version of "The Little Red Hen", a busy hen wants to protect herself and her friends from a pack of wily foxes, so she enlists everyone's help to build a strong brick house.  It sounded a little to me like they mixed up the story of the Red Hen and the Three Pigs, but what do I know?

One thing I DO know is that Lukie is so stinking cute.  This boy melts my heart on a daily basis.

This morning was the big Grade 5 Exhibition.  The theme this year was Diversity, and the fifth graders were in groups of four or five students that studied different types of diversity.

Adam's group focused on diversity in learning.  They put together a skit to introduce their topic, and had this booth where we could come learn more.  At the booth, Adam, another student, and I played the awesome board game you can see in the bottom left corner of the photo.  Adam won, but I think he cheated.

In keeping with the Diversity theme, the art teacher had the fifth graders make Diversity Sculptures.  They all used the same materials (sticks, colored paper, string) to make their own unique sculptures.  It was pretty cool.  

 I was especially proud to see Adam quoted on the gallery wall.  There is some deep "stuff" here (it's nice to see that my kid isn't the dopiest one).

Tonight, Brad invited his coworkers over for a good-bye barbeque.  Since Brad's job has required so much travel, these are the people he has spent the most time with since we moved here.  It was really lovely for me to chat with them and, in some cases, finally meet the people behind his crazy work stories.

Three reasons Thai Tuesday was fantastic today:

1.  The sun was shining and there was beautiful weather, so we ate outside.

2.  This happened across the street.  Not really sure what we're seeing here, but when a bunch of monks gather to pose for a photo, I take a photo (or have Denise take it since she had a better view).

3.  I finally remembered to get a picture of this awesome feature in the Good Time restaurant restroom.  Yes, that is a wall to wall, floor to ceiling mirror in the bathroom stall.  This provides a super view of yourself when you're *ahem* in here.  Just be glad all you can see of me in this photo is my big toe in the lower corner.  Usually, it's much worse.

This kid scared us to death last night.

Just before midnight, Brad and I were both lying in bed reading. Suddenly, Brad got abruptly out of bed and went into Pepper's bedroom across the hall.  I heard Brad in there trying to get Pepper to talk to him, so I went in to see what what was up.  Pepper was lying in his bed, eyes wide open and twitching slowly and methodically.  Brad kept trying to get him to respond, but Pepper couldn't speak and just lay there twitching and staring.  Our first thought was that his blood sugar was low, so I ran to get his meter and pricked his finger.  His glucose level was 27 (it should be above 80).  Brad got Pepper some juice, which luckily he was able to drink, and when he stopped twitching and could talk to us, we forced him to eat some bread too so his sugar level wouldn't bottom out again during the night.  Twenty minutes later, Pepper was fine and had gone back to sleep.  However, back in our room, Brad and I were seriously freaked out.

The doctor had told us that when blood sugar gets really low, it sometimes causes a seizure.  I've had low blood sugar myself, but I've never been affected like that.  I don't know how Brad knew something was wrong, but I am so glad he was there and heard whatever he heard that alerted him.  

Pepper is fine now, and this morning barely remembered that anything had happened.  But I'm a little paranoid and have been hovering around, watching to make sure he's all right.  I never want to see my boy like that again.

A very common sight at our house these days: Brad scrolling through realtor.com.  

We are planning to buy a house when we move to Dallas, TX next month, and since we are currently still an ocean away, we are relying heavily on the internet for our house hunt.  When Brad was in Dallas in April, he went with a real estate agent to look at several houses, and the agent has since been emailing us listings on a regular basis.  We are trying to put together a short list of houses to look at when we are in Dallas next week so hopefully we can make a decision and get the ball rolling so we have someplace for our furniture to be delivered in August.

I found this photo on my camera.  Jess obviously was playing with my camera (which is verbotten!) and snapped this self-portrait. 
I like the picture because I just think my daughter is pretty.

Lukie is playing teeball for the first time this year, but apparently it is not enough for him to hit a stationary ball off a boring old tee.  He is dying to play baseball like the big boys, so he's been badgering Brad to come pitch to him every chance he gets.  He's getting pretty good at hitting the ball.

(Plus, he is super safe in his helmet.  Heaven forbid he gets hit by the little wiffle ball.)

Tonight, the Fellows family had us over for dinner as a thank you for doing seminary with their son J this year.  It was a little unfair of me to accept their thanks, as it was delightful to have J with us every morning.  Honestly, having him come every day was a great motivator for me to make sure I was prepared and it forced Jess to be semi-pleasant during our seminary time.

So, I probably should have had THEM over for dinner as a thank you, but let's get real.  Susanne is an amazing cook - I've never been disappointed in her kitchen - and to top it off, she made chocolate cupcakes with caramel buttercream icing.  There was even a squirt of caramel in the center of every cupcake.  

So, when she offered to make us dinner, I accepted.  Fair or not, I'm not stupid.

Tonight, we invited the Dahlem Ward Young Men over for a farewell barbeque for Pepper.  I don't think there is a better group in the whole world for Pepper to have been with for his first years in Young Men.

Looking at these guys, I can just imagine Heavenly Father looking at my boy, and thinking, "There is a little pocket of Berlin, Germany with unusually kind, accepting young men.  I'm going to make sure Pepper gets some time with them."  Then, He picked up our little family between His thumb and finger and dropped us here.

Tonight was my last meeting of my Berlin book club.  Sad.

This month, we each read a book of our choice by A.J. Jacobs, an author who likes to try different lifestyle experiments and write about his efforts.

Having just finished studying the Old Testament for seminary, I chose this book:

I highly recommend this book.  It is a day-by-day account of his year trying to obey every commandment he could find in the Bible.  Some of them are pretty wacky, like not wearing mixed-fiber clothes or touching anything touched by an "unclean" woman.  But, he makes some interesting statements about religion, and how changing his behavior led him to change some of his beliefs.

(He wasn't at all religious before, and if I said he was miraculously converted after his biblical year, I'd be lying--which is too bad, since I'm teaching a lesson in Relief Society on Sunday about reading the scriptures and wouldn't this make a tidy little example?)

But mostly, it is a very funny account of a man in 21st century New York City trying to live like Abraham, Moses, and Paul.  And, his wife is a SAINT for putting up with it all!

Just yesterday, I sat through a Mother's Day sacrament meeting in which every speaker referenced Helaman's stripling warriors and their mothers' role in shaping these great heroes from the Book of Mormon.

And yet, a short 24 hours later, this was our "Family Home Evening"

 (The quotation marks are intentional.  I don't want anyone googling Family Home Evening to think this is a shining example).

Isn't there a verse somewhere in Alma that talks about mothers teaching their children the importance of aerosol whipped cream and BeeGee's karaoke?

No?

Dang.

Mother's Day 2012

Man, I love these kids!

This morning, the first reality of our imminent move hit us.

Some men from the Elder's Quorum came over to help Beatrice move out.  

She is moving in with another family from our ward until she leaves for the MTC in July.  She's done now with school and her exams, so she can concentrate on preparing for her mission to Greece.

I am sure great things are ahead for my sweet friend Beatrice!

After five days apart, I've got all my chicks back in the nest tonight.

Pepper, Adam, and Jess were away on their school trips this week.  Pep and Adam went to youth camps here in Germany, and Jess went to London.  They all came back tired and full of stories.

(Even with all the big kids home, Luke is apparently still full of himself.  Notice the "Peace Out" sign again...)

This afternoon after school, Luke was in the living room watching Arthur.  When I walked into the room, he very quickly, and not-very-slyly moved something behind the bookshelf and out of my sight, all the while watching me guiltily to see if I saw.

I saw.

This is what he was hiding:

So naughty on so many levels!

a) these are the strawberries I bought for strawberry shortcake

b) he was eating them in the living room (see the juice on the floor?)

c)  he was using a KNIFE!!

It's a good thing he's cute.

 This photo was brought to you by the new H&M store that opened across the street from Thai Tuesday.

This morning, our new washing machine was delivered.

 "NEW washing machine?" you ask.  "But aren't you moving in a mere six weeks?"

Yes.  Yes, we are.  

But when the repair man tells you that your old washer can't be fixed, and you are faced with carting a family of six's laundry to a skanky German laundromat for the last, stress-filled weeks before a major move, you go to the washing machine store and buy the least expensive model you can find.  

Luckily, my dreamy husband didn't even bat an eye.  

He knows when to tell me to suck it up and, more importantly, when not to. 

My three older kids are away this week on their school trips and Brad is in Rome for work, so it's just Luke and me at home.

I wanted to take a picture of the two of us having an intimate scrabbled egg supper, but Luke is too cool for that.  He must be feeling the I'm-the-biggest-kid-here-now bravado, because he insisted on giving me his "Peace-Out Face".  Good grief.

After dropping Mom and my sisters off at the airport at the crack of dawn, I came home to find this card they left for me.  Inside, each of them wrote a really nice note thanking me for having them (as if!). I sat in my unnaturally quiet house reading this and lamenting their fresh absence.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be grumpy today.

Today was baseball, so we all spent a good part of the day huddled under blankets in camp chairs at the ball park.  I was too cold to get up and take a photo, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Afterwards, my family did some last minute shopping while I stayed home and helped my kids pack for their school trips next week.  Oh, and Lukie went to a birthday party for one of his classmates.

The party had a Knight theme, so Luke came home in this get-up.  He had a whole houseful of aunts crooning over him when he modeled it for them.

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, Mom made pork tacos and Brad wowed everyone with his homemade salsa and guacamole.  Then, we hunkered down and stayed up way too late watching movies.  Even though we had to leave by 5:30 the next morning for the airport, nobody wanted to turn in early.  Speaking for myself, I wasn't ready for the visit to end.

This morning we toured Charlottenburg Schloss, home to the lovely and buggy-eyed Sophie Charlotte, first queen of Prussia.

Ash and Jen channel their inner cherub.

Ahhhh, Jode.

After lunch at the cafe on the castle grounds, which included cream puffs the size of our heads, we got into the car and drove to Wittenburg.

In front of the Schlosskirche, where Martin Luther nailed up his 95 Theses.

Not the original door, but still cool.  This door has the 95 Theses engraved on it.

Small irony:  Martin Luther's biggest beef with the Catholic church was the selling of indulgences.  But inside the church memorializing him, visitors must pay 1 Euro for the privilege of taking photos, which is otherwise forbidden.  I paid the 1 Euro fee and relished the fact that I could take as many pictures as I wanted, while those who didn't pay had to keep their cameras in their bags.  Purchased indulgences are awesome. 

Martin Luther's grave.

I wanted to take this picture because all four of them were sitting there with their heads bowed, looking so reverent.  But then, Jami looked up and gave me a goofy face, destroying all reverence.  Typical.

 I don't know who this guy is, but he gives a very good Stank Eye.

Nothing says "Hurray for the Reformation" like Jazz Hands.

Today we drove to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where we all got suitably depressed.

Low point of the day: the infirmary.  Each of us walked out separately with tears in our eyes and asked the group "Did you hear about the little boys?"  They should not allow mothers to listen to that.

We finished our day with a raclette dinner, which made us feel a little better.