The Blogging Butterfields

September Recap.

2011-10-12T04:41:00.000-07:00

Why does it feel like I post more recaps than actual posts? Probably because I have more children than brain cells these days... I think that's a chicken/egg dilemma for another post!

Emma and I baked in our matching aprons. Forgive the "mom look," I rock that pretty much daily.

I went to Baden-Baden with my girls, and stayed in a fabulous vineyard!

We went to the Landstuhl Stadtfest and rode some rides.

The boys rocking their matching shirts. It's ridiculous how excited they BOTH get over matching!

Emma and Jacob practiced their twirls :)

Lemma got a new bike for her birthday! Early, but we wanted her to get some use before the weather turned yucky. Which, it promptly did to spite me.

We went to a kerwe in Oberkirchenbach. Its a fest, with more rides and lots of beer.

Bumper cars-a whole family favorite!

Daddy bought us some küssen, they're chocolate covered wafer and marshmallows- Johnny was a HUGE fan!

Ems and I scouted some new photo locations :)

We went to Hitscherhof.

Tiny baby loved the hay pile!

Daddy decided to sumo wrestle. It did not end well. He dislocated his patella- imagine its supposed to be at 12 o'clock. His ended up near 8 o'clock. NOT pretty. Nor was the bath I attempted to give him. :D

The fog rolled in around Martinshöhe. Fall is sooo pretty around here!

Disibodenberg and Bad Sobernheim Barfußpfad

2011-10-12T04:22:00.000-07:00

We went to Disibodenberg a few weeks ago, it was a ruins of a monastery from somewheres around 640AD. Very very cool, even the kids really enjoyed exploring the site. The 3rd grade archaeologist in me really loved this!

We also went to the Barfußpfad in Bad Sobernheim. The kids loved this- it was much more of a "hard core" walk than the one we did earlier this year. The fording of the river was lots deeper, and we were rain dodging too.

My Brand New Sparkly Website!

2011-09-14T01:34:00.000-07:00

My photography website is finally up. Thanks so much to the fabulous Beth Worthy for doing my web design- she was SO patient with me and did a amazing job- it's so very beautiful!

Check it out:

J Butterfield Photography

Also, don't forget about the photography blog... I'm trying to be better about keeping that up as well,

BLOG

And, I have a FB page, the link to that can be found on the left or right here:

Facebook

Thanks for all the love, support, and encouragement!

Bernkastel

2011-09-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

We found a tiny little weingut in a real cave!

We went up to Bernkastel in August, its a little wine town on the Mosel River, a little over an hour away. We'd heard good things about it and decided to check it out ourselves.

The kids were fascinated by the narrow building.

The Mosel

My boys :)

The castle was also very cool, a bit of a hike, but the kids did well and we all enjoyed it. The views were spectacular!

Deidesheim Erlebnistag

2011-09-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago, we went to an Erlebnistag (Adventure Day) in Deidesheim. The weinstrasse (main road through wine country) shuts down for the day and people bring their bikes out and travel along tasting wine and food and whatever else is on offer. The kids pulled out bikes and scooters and we headed out. I seriously underestimated the number of people that were out that day (around 400,000!) and the hard-core-ness of the German bikers. Sweet little Memma on her tiny scooter was just dwarfed, but she held her own. We made her wear her helmet at all times in case she got smoked by a stray biker, but thankfully, somehow, she avoided getting hit.

It was Heather's birthday, we had a GREAT day!

One vineyard had their grapes marked, so cool to see the riesling grapes!

soooo pretty

Heather telling Emma, "Now, don't tell your dad we picked more grapes!"

We stopped at one place and had some "sekt," which is the German word for sparkling wine, or traditionally, champagne. However, in Europe, they are VERY strict about true champagne is only from Champagne, France, so its called sekt.

The fountain near where we parked had some "interesting" statues- Jay and the kids had some fun :D

Happy Birthday John!

2011-09-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

We had John's First Birthday party at a local schnapps haus about 2 weeks ago. We had so much fun with our friends (and their kids!). The food was amazing, the schnapps yummy, and the company fabulous. :) We have such a wonderful group of friends here, we're so blessed to get to share special occasions with them.

John had a blast eating his chocolate cupcake, and the adults enjoyed some "Better than..." cake. :D

He was playing with some of Daddy's "empties." :D

First Day of School!!

2011-09-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, back to blogging.

My dad reminded me that this is the only way a lot of family can check in on us, being that not everybody has Facebook, so I'll do my best to keep up with it. :)

The kids had their first day of school on Tuesday. They were SO excited, Harry had his outfit picked out for at least a week ahead of time.

cinnamon rolls for breakfast!

By the front door, this is a Prettyman family tradition :)

Harry in front of his new school- SO excited!

with his new teacher, Mrs. B

Emma at her new school

She's so excited her buddy Jacob is in her class!

family pic with Emmila

Preschool tuckered her right out :)

Poor tiny baby got hauled around the whole day

I found these cool signs online, but forgot to use them in the morning, due to all the other things I had to remember! So, we did pictures after school, but by then Emma was wailing and howling and didn't have much of a happy face.

Summer Recap- Photo Heavy!

2011-08-30T07:14:00.000-07:00

If I were going to recap the whole summer, it'd take me forever and none of us have that much time. SO, in short...

Harry went to soccer camp with his Mafia buddies, Joshua and Blake. They had a blast, got stung by bees, and drank a LOT of Powerade!

We rode 4-wheelers with Gaga.

Had a LOT of s'mores at Auntie's.

John chased ducks.

Jenn ran a 5K.

Harry re-ran his kiddy race so that he could win. :D

Jenn went to see Loverboy with her best girlsies!

We went kayaking with Auntie Shannon and Auntie Lisa.

Emma got her picture on the front page of the paper at the 4th of July!

We lit sparklers- I was very nervous about these, but they were fun and the kids did great!

Katie had her bachelorette party and I threw her a shower.

We fed Auntie's chickens. Often. A lot.

Katie and Ross bought a house!

We went to the beach. And swam. :) The water was gorgeous this year!

Uncle Ross took us out in the boat! Except for the life jacket, even John had a good time.

Harry learned to cannonball!

We went to Sha-Sha. Again, often. A LOT. :D

And fed some chickamunkas.

And had ourselves multiple squirt gun fights. :)

There's lots more, obviously, that I missed, but for now, that'll have to do. I will attempt separate posts for Katie's wedding and John's baptims, though... when I have more time.... :D

Congratulations Jaybird!

2011-06-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

We found out last week that Jay got promoted!!! He will "pin on" for Lt. Colonel sometime next year, most likely in the spring. He and all the other Lt. Col selects from Ramstein threw a party at the O Club on Weds night. Our neighbor was nice enough to watch Harry and Ems so I could take John and have a nice time without chasing the kids around. Thanks Christy! We're SO very proud of Daddy and excited to see what changes this will bring to our lives!

Thumbs up for Daddy!

I signed Harry up for a journaling class through Big Picture Classes. He's loving it and thinks all the student interaction through their website is awesome. I love that he's excited to keep up his writing and reading skills through the summer! :)

I've still be running with my friend 3-4 times a week. I finally got a strap for my iphone and can use the nike+ GPS app, so its pretty fun to run with "cheers" from Facebook. LOL We snapped a few pictures the other night while we were out, its SO gorgeous up in the heights where we live. If I have to huff and puff around, this is the best place to do it! Beats a treadmill at the gym ANY day! :)

We stopped for beignets while in Paris last weekend. The patisserie's smell delicious and the scents just waft as you're walking down the streets. There is nothing like it in the world, and they are amazing. I feel like a little kid when we have to choose, there are SO many incredible looking treats!

Snuggles. He was named by previous owners, and we considered changing it, but it just fits him so well. He literally lives on our bed, night and day, except to eat and do his business. I piled over 3 loads of laundry on and around him the other day without him batting an eye. :) He's even great with the kids most of the time, much more patient than the other two! Even John giggles and squeals when he comes around.

Fun Shots

2011-06-25T06:30:00.000-07:00

I headed out with the kids to do a Father's Day photo shoot to put in our picture frame for Daddy. I left our big D-A-D letters at my dad's, but I made some with scrapbook paper thinking they'd suffice. Apparently, I was wrong. John howled and ate paper, Harry couldn't smile like a normal person and squinted the whole time, and I realized afterwards that Emma's dress was see-through. Whoops!
So, needless to say, we'll reshoot in MN next week. I did scout some good locations in our village, though. :) The stone barns are GORGEOUS for photos and the wildflowers are really in bloom right now!

I do love this one of her twirling!

Yes, he's holding my phone. It was the only way I could get him to stop wailing. :D

Paris and Versailles

2011-06-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

We decided to make one more trip to Paris this summer. We had our Disney passes and wanted to use them again before they expire in August. So, we decided to see some things that we hadn't before! We also drove this time into the city, instead of taking the metro, thinking that it would be easier and we'd be able to bring the stroller for the heavy baby instead of me strapping him on the whole day. Not sure it was any easier, I forget how hard parking is in the european cities!

Le Moulin Rouge

We headed up to see Moulin Rouge, Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, and le Cimitiere de Pere-Laichons. We mostly drove around in the pouring rain, but saw some cool things anyways!

Afterwards, we headed up to Versailles to brave the rain.

overlooking the Grand Canal at Versailles

having a chitchat about getting lost in the gardens!

The fountains were mesmerizing!

only my Emma :)

Apollo's Bath

Lumps wiped out and gave herself a really good gouge in the shin. :(

Inside the palace gates- they were SO golden, there's no other way to describe it!

See, I was there! Jay had the camera for .45 seconds, took 1 picture of me, then attempted several more, got frustrated with my camera, and handed it back over. :) So much for not juggling a squirmy baby AND the heavy camera!

The inside of the palace was SO ornate, it was breathtaking.

The famous Hall of Mirrors, and LOTS of people

The outside of the palace.

This was my favorite part of the gardens. I could totally imagine being a court lady and wandering through here!

Beautiful, gorgeous, wish you were here!

On Sunday, we hit up Disney. The kids had a blast, but we seriously underestimated the crowds this weekend. We waited in line FOREVER and only did a handful of the rides. The kids each got to pick their favorites, plus Buzz Lightyear Ride, and a few quick lines and that was it. :( Emma loves the Dumbos and Harry likes the Haunted House, so we did those of course.

Jay and Memma driving at Autopia

goofball

Der Kuckucksbähnel

2011-06-14T02:34:00.000-07:00

We found out about a very cool "cuckoo train" (der Kuckucksbähnel) that was taking a trip this weekend from Lambrecht to Elmstein. So, we invited all of our friends and headed out for the day! It was quite an adventure, but SO much fun!

We ladies had quite a bit of wine on the train there...

Jay thought he was hysterical watching me freak out about holding the baby out the window. :(

sweet blue eyes!

On the hike. FYI, a German stroller-friendly kids hike is NOT the same as an American stroller-friendly kids hike. Think: MUCH farther and lots of stroller-carrying. :( Thank God Jay was with me, or Emma and John wouldn't have come down the mountain.

I finally got a picture of the gorgeous poppies in bloom lately

beautiful view of Elmstein

My Happy Hiker

Queen Sassafras

Rainy Day Fun

2011-06-13T02:33:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to do some puddle jumping pictures for awhile now, so I gathered up a few of the neighborhood kiddos last week and headed out. Unfortunately, the puddles had dried after naptime, but we still had fun playing in our raingear and running around in their wellies!

Picking Crawberries

2011-06-13T00:18:00.000-07:00

There's a strawberry patch near our village that the kids and I have been waiting to try out. Harry made a poor decision and had to stay home with Daddy and the baby, so it ended up just being Ems and I with Michelle and her kidlets. We had a blast picking "crawberries," which are Emma's favorite.

9 months old!

2011-06-08T01:53:00.000-07:00

Little Sweets is 9 months old! He looks like such a big boy, as has been pointed out to me, he has a neck now. And we mothers all know what that means... toddler-hood will be arriving shortly. This is very bittersweet to me, I'm happy to see him growing, healthy, and happy, but he's our last little bundle and I've definitely enjoyed his babyhood so very much. I'll be sad to see those days behind us. I recently sold a pile (a huge pile!) of our baby stuff- swing, carseat, stroller- and was great until I started telling the nice lady how all 3 of my beautiful babies came home from the hospital in that carseat. And then the tears come (and now again, as I type this!). We definitely feel that our family is complete with these 3 monkeys, but its sad to end that baby phase.

John is definitely my sweetest little baby, he's a snuggler and very lovey. He also got the temper that his sister inherited. When he's mad, the world knows it! But he's much easier to soothe and never holds a grudge (not something I can say about the Queen!).

He is a HUGE flirt. He's been known to squeal when he sees a pretty lady or baby and then coo and hide when she looks over at him. It's hysterical and I'll credit his dad for that trait!

The monthly chicken shot :)

He's giggly and sweet and ADORES his siblings. He thinks they're the funniest kids in the world. He squeals when they make him giggle and tries to join in on their conversations. To their credit, they try very hard to play with him and include them.

BBQ's and Farewells

2011-06-08T01:41:00.000-07:00

My Boys

The kids had their End of the Year Luau at school the other day. Harry squeezed himself into his Hawaiian outfit from when he was 3. All he needed was a moustache, and we had our own Magnum PI. :P Check out those long legs!!!

My sweet little JohnBear

Summer is also PCS season in the military life, we have a few families we know headed on to new things this month. One of our Martinshöhe Mafia families, is headed to Utah the first week of July. With all the traveling we all do, we had to have our farewell bbq this past weekend. It was a blast, as all of the Mafia events are, but we will be ever so sad to see them go.

My sweet darling girl

John and his girlfriend, Evelyn

They loving catching the Eis truck!

gorgeous rainbow!!

Also, in other family news, I've been taking my photography to the next level and doing shoots for some friends and families. A friend from Spokane is currently working on a website for me (Go Beth!), but for now, you can check out the blog overhaul at J Butterfield Photography Blog and my sweet FB page at J Butterfield Photography. VERY exciting!!!

Black Forest Trip, Part II

2011-06-02T05:16:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon, we headed to Insel Mainau, on the Bodensee (Lake Konstanz). It was incredibly beautiful, and we all had a blast. :)

In the SchmetterlingHaus

Harry was thrilled to see a Blue Morpho, his favorite!

The boys found a Volvo classic car show at the castle on the island.

in the Rose Garten

the views of the lake were just incredible

a water staircase

trinkwasser

The park was just incredible. They had a moat set up for the kids to swim and play pirates in. There were lots of other parts to play on, but my kinder got hung up here for a loooong time!

We also headed to Lake Titisee to play and have dinner that night. This lake was much colder, but just as beautiful.

On the way home, we stopped in Triberg at another cuckoo shop. This one was incredible, they were all completely hand made and handcarved. I could have bought everything in that beautiful shop!

Black Forest Trip, Part I

2011-06-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

We had planned to go to Salzburg this weekend, but since the entire Autobahn was shut down from Stuttgart to Salzburg, we figured it made more sense to do that trip another time! So, I looked around and found a great deal on a hotel in Hinterzarten, in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest), so we headed there! It was gorgeous and so fun to re-visit the places that I had been in 1999 on my class trip. And so great to really experience things that I passed over at 15. :D

Emma checking out the waterwheel at Hofgut Sternum

Cuckoo clock shop

Glasbläserei

That night, we used our Hochschwarzwald cards and went to Badeparadies, a brand new indoor water park. It was amazing and not crowded. Even John had fun- they had a small bathtub for him to sit in and splash! :) I WISH I could've had a picture of that!!

Braunlingen- one of the prettiest villages I've ever been to!

I swear, kitties just flock to him! This one showed up while he was pumping gas!

More Braunlingen

Sunday morning, we headed to Rheinfall in Switzerland and met up with Robin and Tina. This was another place that I had been in high school and had always wanted to return to.

Emma SO excited to see Tina!

family pic at Rheinfall, Schweiz

Rheinfall was incredible!

at the base of the island

learning about water cyclones

see the little island? see the tiny slippery staircase? see Jenn have a panic attack?

at the little Wasserfall

my handsome hubby and I

More May Pictures....

2011-05-22T22:51:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know. My blog titles are super lame. I literally have zero creativity when it comes to those lately? Perhaps I'll start using song titles or something else....hmmmm....

Harry's class took a field trip to the bakery in Mackenbach.

my big kids!

TWO toofers!!! :D

Doesn't Harry look like a big kid??

Emma and her buddy Reese- these two are two peas in a pod!!

A Day in Cochem

2011-05-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we went to Cochem to see the city and the castle. It was stunning and SO beautiful. The castle is up on a hill on the Moselle River, it was just gorgeous! The castle was originally built around the year 1000. WOW!

The approach- a BIG hill!!

S and Emma in the courtyard

Emma and Heather :)

Harry was thrilled to find shining armor!

The kids thought it was hilarious to see behind the fake door- it was put in for symmetrical purposes.
Also, note the gorgeous Delft china in the hutch.

The kids got to find a hidden door, with a secret passageway beyond! VERY cool!

These were some of the first stained glass windows- they were made with the shields from the surrounding areas.

This was a mermaid made with antlers- if you rub her belly, its supposed to be Gute Glück!

The hunting/trophy room

The kids found another hidden door

This one had a treasure chest inside!

Jay and the boys on the balcony, which had an amazing view! I definitely see why that was one of the reasons they built their castles up high!

John being a flirt :)

super cool wine bottles!

Stadt Cochem

The queen demanded Eis after her long hike up to the castle. :)

View of the castle and city beyond

tuckered out little princess!

Pirate Soccer and Swimmy Baby

2011-05-11T02:04:00.000-07:00

Michelle at the Friedrichsbad in Baden-Baden- SOO much fun!

It was crazy hot and dusty at soccer practice on Monday, so Coach Mike let the kids soak their jerseys in water and make headwraps. They got to play "pirate soccer" and thought it was absolutely hilarious :)

All the kids were filthy when they got home, so we filled up the little blue pools and dunked everybody before dinner. JohnBear was NOT a fan. :P

That little lip rarely comes out, but when it does, he really makes it work!

Emmila found a ladybug- she was absolutely enthralled! She let it crawl around on her for a good half hour while talking to it and telling it stories. It probably listened better than the rest of us. :D

May Updates

2011-05-11T00:58:00.000-07:00

yeah, she looks a lot like me here... :)

For Teacher Appreciation week, I made little cards with their pictures and tied them to some German chocolate bars. They were a big hit! :)

Harry's class had a Mother's Day Tea. He insisted on wearing his suit and informed me that I needed to put a dress on so that I was "fancy." They sang a song, served us muffins and iced tea, and read us a story they had written called "If you give a Mom a Muffin."

We headed to the Gartenschau again with our friends, Harry is so lucky to have another set of twin friends here in Germany! :)

All the kids riding the big swing- even poor Blake with his foot cast!

Emma stuck her headband on Johnny. Poor kid is doomed for years of torture...

We went to the Weihermühle for dinner for Mother's Day. We love going there- they have a huge play are; big fields to run in; cows, donkeys, ponies to feed; putt-putt cars; and a digger. The kids play and play while Jay and I can sit outside and enjoy the gorgeous surroundings. Eating outside is probably one of my absolute favorite things about living in Europe. It's so gorgeous and relaxing!

We found this amazing chapel on a hill on our way home from Baden-Baden last weekend, its called the Kriegergedächtniskapelle. I made Jay and the kids sit in the car while I shot a ton of pictures at sunset. Did I mention my Mother's Day present was an L glass?? :)

8 months old!!

2011-05-04T01:01:00.000-07:00

The little monkey is 8 months old. It really seems like time is just flying with him. He's such a goofy little one lately, with his cheeseball smile and his little baby giggles. He thinks Harry is absolutely hilarious. They sit together in the car and giggle most of the way. Emma got relegated to the back for sticking her fingers in his eyeballs a few too many times. :D He's also really warmed up to Daddy lately, after Jay's crazy work schedule the last few months, John played strange for awhile, but he's realized that Daddy is great and so funny now.

This is his new cheeseball grin :D

Monthly Picture with his Chicken :)

Some more Emma-isms....

2011-05-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

My little firecracker has been full of sass lately. These are all I can remember right now, but man does she keep us on our toes!!

Emma, what do you think they're going to give you for a prize (for completing a short hike at a festival)?
Probably a pony. I like yellow ones.

Emma met "Dark Vader" at a picnic. She walks up to him and says "Hi Dark. I'm Emma."

Emma, are you being bossy?
No, I'm just telling you what to do.

She was very clear at what she wanted- some pink, lots of blue on her eyes, glitter all over and some polky-dots.

Daddy, I'm firsty (thirsty).
Emma, you're secondy.
Fine, you're stupid.
(Needless to say, she got in a LOT of trouble for that one, but it was hysterical!)

Waving to Dark from across the park. :)

I don't want any more brothers. Why can't you trade somebody and get me a sister?

I walked so far today that I deserve 3 ice creams. One strawberry or raspberry, one chocolate and one yellowish whitey vanilla.

I like when just us girls go places. We're prettier than the boys.

(While watching the Royal Wedding...)
I will marry that other boy prince. But I will make him change his name, cuz I don't like Harry. And I want a crown bigger than that girl's.

Easter Recap

2011-04-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

We planted jellybeans the night before...

John clearly thought it was a bogus idea. :)

And Lollipops grew!! :)

Their buckets out and ready for the bunny- Emma insisted that the bunny wanted popcorn with her carrots.

Searching for eggs in the yard

Harry with his loot

Note to self for next year: when the kids are hunting for their hidden baskets- FOLLOW the girl child. This year, she hid herself with her bucket and ate as much chocolate as she could stuff in her face before we realized she was quiet and missing.

John loves his deutsche krankenwagen

until he remembered that his teeth hurt. Seriously, this is his face 23 hours a day right now. It's very sad.

We headed to our friends, the Goodwins, for Easter. It was the most relaxed fun holiday I've had in years. We set up the food potluck buffet style and just grazed for the day. The kids ate a bunch, the adults ate more, and we all had a blast. And some very good czech beer was also consumed. :D

My sweet schnookums

beautiful, clean children :)

Heather bought gorgeous long topped carrots- Emma thought they were amazing and ate them all day long!

Major and Missy SweetTooth

Poor baby even teethed on Heather's beer stein!

the queen's newest expression. Just what I always wanted- a 3 year old rolling her eyes at me all day!

My sweet Harry-boy

The Mafia kids

We have such an amazing group of friends here in Martinshöhe (and Bann!). We'll be so sad to see one of the families PCS this summer, but we know they'll be on to new adventures and we'll catch up with them eventually. The AF is great like that!

My gorgeous and filthy family after the festivities- how lucky am I? :)

More Pictures!

2011-04-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

The kids before their school Easter Parties

We found an awesome park in Winterbach last week. It had a water pump that the kids played with for hours!

Sweet John took a nap

Emmila let me put curlers in her hair the other night :)

We headed to the Gartenschau on Saturday and got our season passes. Well worth the 39 euro to go all year long!

So proud of Harry- last year he wouldn't even climb the tower for the huge slides, and this year he whizzed right down the highest one!!

Emma stripped down and made like a local kid. The German kids were all half naked and swimming in the water area. :)

The tulips were absolutely incredible! I've never seen that many colors and vibrancy.

They were setting up for a wedding in the Willow Chapel. That place is incredible!

"Ice Cream Makes Everything Better"

even Daddy got some eis- white chocolate raspberry. :)

Dying Easter Eggs and Spring Fun

2011-04-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

Counting his eggs

Harry's feet are finally big enough to try out his hand-me-down rollerblades!

He did such a great job!

Barfußpfad Hike!

2011-04-14T02:03:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we did a Barfußpfad (Barefoot Hike) up in Kell am See with our friends, the Goodwin Family. It was gorgeous and VERY fun! They had different stations to walk through including mulch, mud, a stream, cork bed, tiny pebbles, inch-wide rocks, logs, stumps, and a weird stilt-type thing. The kids had a blast. Emma woke up screaming "barefoot hike, barefoot hike" that morning, she was SO excited to traipse through the mud with permission. :) Harry wanted to know if he could wear his socks. Pretty sure there's a lot of his Gaga in his personality!

The shoe rack

The trail map

Jay doing the corks

Emma loved the stumps- she was perfect size to hop along!

She needed a little help with these though!

Yeah, you wish you were this cool. :P

The cool kids

Harry doing the stilt walk

Dirty feet!

Emma kept howling that the water was cold (it was VERY cold!) but kept going back for more!

I think the mud was her favorite part- it was very squishy!!

They had a wading pool set up in the crick at the end to rinse off.

The guys needed a beer at the end!

John had the only casualty of the day- Jay bumped his nose and it got scraped up. It looks worse than it was, but he sure howled about it!

We will definitely be going back and doing it again when the weather is warmer. The area was gorgeous and we all had a blast. Apparently, there's another nearby that has a thigh deep mud pit. Maybe I can convince Jay to do that one too! :)

April, minus the showers

2011-04-13T23:36:00.000-07:00

Such a sad boy. This one really pulls off the pathetic Pete look.

Brudders :)

Working hard- his concentrating face looks like Jay's! (and Emma's!)

Such a big boy lately. Definitely not a little kid anymore.

Emma and our neighbor, Lena

Harry scoring a goal at soccer last week!

Such a sweet big sister. When she wants to be!

Sankt Wendel Oster Markt

2011-04-08T23:37:00.000-07:00

After the Barfußpfad hike on Friday, we headed to Sankt Wendel to the Oster Markt. Remember when we went to the Weihnachts Markt there?

The egg display

Doing a craft- they colored rabbits and a chick made of wood

Daddy cuddling the littlest monkey

A Few Extra... Just for Good Measure!

2011-04-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

Emma eating a döner in Heidelberg

Love John's expression- he's watching Emma throw a tantrum!

Finally got some tulips for my Delft vase I got in Amsterdam! Look how awesome it looks, Dad!

Lisa doing Yoda shadows- Harry thought this was hilarious!

Self-portrait
He's been using my little point and shoot- and doing an AWESOME job!

Harry took this of Emma in the car the other day. SO great!

My Sweet Emmila

2011-04-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

stubborn face!

Some Update Pictures

2011-04-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

Why does it seem like I'm always behind on blogging? I feel like I could put "updates" on every.single.title. :(

Anyways, here are some, well, yeah, updates.

Soccer is going great for the kids. They're having a blast and really learning a lot. Harry has had some trouble keeping a positive attitude during games. He likes to be the one who scores every goal and is passed to at all times. Emma could care less, she's having a great time with her buddy Jacob.

Emma and I had a girls night last weekend when Harry was at his sleepover. She was thrilled to have "girl time." We had popcorn and watched "Beauty and the Beast."

The kids got new sunglasses. Harry picked out cool aviator shades. Such a goober!

Rockin Awesome Girls- Europe edition!

2011-03-31T10:21:00.000-07:00

Angie, Lisa and Shannon came to visit us last week. SO much fun having my girlfriends here!! I hope you all had as much fun as we did. :)

We took them to Heidelberg, Lichtenberg, Sarreguemines, Nastein Schloss, and lots of sightseeing on the way. Angie and Lisa were also able to get to Paris for 2 days, Lisa spent a few days in London before coming here, and Shannon went to Budapest! So great to tour Europe. :)

Gelato!

Flat Stanleys met Flat Maria!

Emmila and her Fairy Godmothers

No Training Wheels!!

2011-03-31T09:58:00.000-07:00

I'm so proud of my big 5 year old! Last week, we took the training wheels off his bike. I wasn't sure that he was ready, but after watching him do loops around our driveway and not even touch the training wheels, I figured we'd give it a shot. Sure enough, he took off right away, even doing tight little circles. He was SO proud of himself, he couldn't stop giggling.

He also had his first sleepover at his friend Joshua's house last weekend. I think they had a pretty good time, Harry was pretty excited to do "big kid" stuff and eat popcorn! :)

7 months old!

2011-03-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

Oh, my little sweetums. Seriously, he is the sweetest little monkey I know. Except when he's not. He's pretty grouchy when his world is not perfect and really lets me know, but he's so much quieter than Emma (even when he's furious!) and he's such a little snuggler. Can't believe he's 7 months old already! He's getting great at sitting up, as you can see. I think maybe that's the last milestone we'll hit. Then he'll stay little and be my snugglebunny forever. :)

Seriously, those blue eyes just melt my heart!

Apparently, chicken is hilarious :)

I just love to squeeze those cheeks!

Love his tiny baby giggles :)

Landstuhl Carnival and More...

2011-03-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

John and his girlfriend Evelyn. Are they not the sweetest things you've ever seen?

We went to the Landstuhl Carnival on Saturday. The kids had a blast. We met up with our friends, the Goodwins, and all had a wonderful day together playing games, getting faces painted, and eating German carnival food!

SpiderHarry!

Emma sat right down and said "I want Crawberry Shortcake." The poor lady did her best!

Afterwards, they needed full baths to scrub off all that face paint.

sweet blue eyes... they get her out of so much trouble!

Oh, if I could just bottle that giggle!

I see Jay's "salesman smile" on that little face!

He's such a comedian lately!

And, in other news, Shannon and Angie (Emma's Fairy Godmothers!) get here tomorrow morning! And Lisa will be here Tuesday night. I'm SO excited to see my girlfriends!!! :)

First Day of Soccer!

2011-03-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

This past Monday was Emma's first day of soccer and Harry's first this season. They are signed up for a few months with a soccer pro on Landstuhl Post. Emma is on the 3-4 year old team with her friend Jacob; and Harry is on the 5-6 year old team with his friend Joshua. And, of course, John and Evy come along to cheer! It worked out great having all the kids together, they play when its not their turn and have a friend on their team. Harry also will have games on Saturday mornings starting next week!

bummed that her practice was over

I *may* have told her that they wouldn't let her on the team if she didn't have pigtails.

Harry scoring one of his many goals- he ran over and hugged me after each one!

I think having his tongue out helps him run faster, right?

#1 Fan!

outrunning his opponent. I seriously couldn't believe how fast he is! Now, if he could just work on ball control...

He was SO excited when he saw this picture- he says its his "action man" shot!

Multitude of Attitude, Minimum of Fashion Sense

2011-03-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

Oh, my sweet girlita.
The best part of these pictures is that she's wearing pants. Why is that a big deal, you wonder? Well, her sweet father let me sleep in on Tuesday (durned migraines!) and got the kids dressed and off to school by himself. Thank God for my wonderful husband!
However, being a male, he failed to realize that the sheer tutu skirt his daughter insisted on wearing required pants/tights/something other than green striped panties underneath! I was mortified when I picked her up at school that afternoon and was informed that she and her striped panties were the highlight of everybody's day. She, of course, was oblivious, and was simply thrilled that she conned Daddy into letting her wear her tutu to school!

Wearing her bomber hat backwards. This is how the true hoodlums do it, I'm told.

I think she was trying to see if I'd let her mix and match everything she owned!

Metz

2011-03-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

Warning: Very picture heavy post!
On Saturday, we headed off to Metz, France with the Putty family. We threw Harry, Emma, Joshua (5) and Jacob (3), with Jay and Brad in our black Honda Pilot, while Christy and I took Evelyn (7 months) and John (6 months) in her black Honda Pilot. I'm sure we made quite a sight traveling down the autobahn, but boy did we have FUN! :)

Christy and I also managed to find a Cora on the way home and stocked up on wine, chocolate croissants, and fraise tartelettes. YUMMY!!!

Inside the Saint-Stephen Cathedral

Emma and Joshua ogling the stained glass windows.

The massive organ and the windows

outside of the front of the Cathedral

Deciding where to go next, Saint Jacques Square

A "food court," European style

Yes, it's STILL Mustache March.

Harry probably could use a lesson in blending in!

Emma has learned to wink- watch out, world!

The Temple Neuf Church on Petit Soulcy Island

The kids inhaling beignets from a patisserie

running laps in the Jardin d'Amour to work off their beignets!

The Temple Neuf was surrounded by purple gates- they were so unusual and gorgeous!

The kids playing hide and seek in the facade

6 months old!

2011-03-16T03:02:00.000-07:00

John-John is 6 months old!

He's had a cold and pink eye and a yunky cough for a week or two, so I've been holding off doing pictures, but I figured by the time everything cleared up, he'd be 7 months old. So, off we went to the rocking chair to do our monthly pictures!

I also pulled out the overalls we used for Harry's 6 month pictures. John wasn't so interested in pictures by then, but I did get a good one to do a comparison! I can't believe how alike they are!!

School Pictures!

2011-03-16T02:57:00.000-07:00

The kids had their class pictures at school last week. They each picked out a nice outfit and I took advantage of the clean shiny children and did pictures of my own on the couch before we left for school! :)

Emma doing her My Little Pony puzzle all by herself! She's also holding up 3 fingers because she's 3 years old!!

My sweet boys :)

Starting March...

2011-03-06T03:55:00.000-08:00

My littlest fellow is 6 months old!

John and his girlfriend Evy. How sweet are they!

Jay is participating in Mustache March again. Awesome.

Finishing Up February...

2011-03-06T03:39:00.000-08:00

This is the face I get whenever I'm more than 6 inches away from him. How pathetic is that sad little fellow??

Emma has been working on her "moves" lately too!

More Yabadoo Fun!

2011-02-26T04:03:00.000-08:00

The Trouble Twins

Harry on the trampoline!

Next to the word naughty in the dictionary, is THIS picture.

If only they weren't SO darn cute!

Valentine's Packages from Auntie and Woss!!

The queen got a new dress for her and her baby dolly

Harry's rockin' new shirt!

Emma and Jay eating jelly beans

Seriously, how do you get mad at this?

Stage 2 of the sugar coma

A Haircut

2011-02-17T11:21:00.000-08:00

Emma cut her own hair today. She took the kitty's fingernail clippers and cut a small chunk out of the front of her hair. I turned around as I heard the clippers close and we watched the hair fall to the ground. She let out a horrible shriek and was inconsolable for almost 30 minutes. I finally got it out of her that she wanted to go to see the "haircut lady to get it put back." I told her that we couldn't do that and if she did it again, she couldn't be a princess in Auntie's wedding. I think it'll be awhile before she tries THAT again!!

Flowers, Legos, and more Scooters

2011-02-16T12:40:00.000-08:00

Beautiful flowers from my hubby

Look at those knobbly little legs! :)

The back of our house. The whole top back is our master bedroom, I love those huge windows! :)

My Monkey Family :)

2011-02-14T23:14:00.000-08:00

Emma playing starfall- she amazes me with how smart she is!

John eating blueberries- they were a big hit!

Harry's getting pretty good on his bike!

Another bday party at Yabadoo, love that place!

The kids conned Jay into trying to climb the mountain

prettiest girl I know

Harry and Ava, his little girlfriend

The sassy Butterfields!

Emma thought it was hilarious to haul Jay down

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T10:44:00.001-08:00

Bikes, Scooters, and a Sweet Baby

2011-02-11T02:33:00.000-08:00

See, she's not homeless ALL the time!

Harry got a new scooter- he outgrew his old one!

SO proud of herself for pedaling well

Harry went up to a bigger bike this year too- what a ROCKSTAR!

Seriously, isn't he the cutest thing ever?

The kids ready for their preschool Valentine's Day Party.

Photoshoot Sunday and a Walk

2011-02-07T02:34:00.000-08:00

New edits

2011-02-02T01:52:00.000-08:00

I've been playing with my Photoshop software lately, and found some new editing features. I also purchased some preset type things since I'm more comfortable doing my own free-editing in Aperture, but there are things I can't do in Aperture that I can do in Photoshop and vice versa. I actually really like having both. :) Anyways, these are some of the newer edits I've been working with, it makes my kids' blue eyes look incredible!! :)

5 months old!

2011-01-31T07:48:00.000-08:00

He is currently in love with his feet and blowing raspberries with his tongue. Hence, 98% of the pictures I took yesterday reflect that. :)
With Harry, I would have stressed and fussed and tried for the "perfect picture." With John, I'm much more happy to remember him the way he really is at 5 months. A goofy little monkey who constantly has his socks off and his tongue out. :) Because all too soon, that little tongue will go back in and he'll be wearing shoes and starting kindergarten next year. Did I mention how much I'm FREAKING out that Harry will be at kindergarten next year 5 full days a week??!!!

Video of Johnny

2011-01-27T03:47:00.000-08:00

Peas and Haircuts

2011-01-26T02:41:00.000-08:00

John had peas for the first time on Saturday. He was NOT a fan. LOL, his little expressions were sooo sad and pitiful (and hysterical!). I finally took pity on him and gave him apples instead, they were a much bigger hit!

Emma and I finally were able to get in for a haircut on base. I think we're going to have to venture off next time, but we got the job done anyways. She was SO excited to have "big girl" time with mommy and sat and played on my iphone while I got mine cut. The haircut lady even put hers in a french braid- she looked SO grown up. Of course, the pretty braid only lasted about 10 minutes after we walked out of the salon, but she was beautiful and clean for those glorious 10 minutes...

She and I also went shopping a few weeks ago and H&M. I love that store- its right down the hill in Homburg and they have great clothes at great prices that she can wear. Because of her eczema, I have to be very careful what I buy for her, a high polyester count or low quality cotton makes her break out and actually bleed. Normally, I have to stalk the gap and gymboree's sales to afford clothes for her, but over here, we can just hop in the car and she can pick out what she likes! SO much fun for her and much easier for me. :) Plus, they're made in european sizes, which are by centimeter (first time I went shopping, I had to call home and have Jay measure the kids, then convert it into cm's!!) and fit her skinny little butt so much better. They work great for Harry too. :)

My Beautiful Babies

2011-01-22T10:35:00.000-08:00

Paris, edits

2011-01-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

PW's Heartland Edit

These are some of the Paris pictures that I played with some fun edits of. I love how they turned out!

creamy b&w

added some fake sun to make Emma look like she was just playing in the park :)

My cute kids

2011-01-21T07:22:00.000-08:00

My Tubba Babies

Someone is VERY excited that he has feet. :)

Harry asked me to come and take pictures of his "moves."

Moon flare, baby!

Emmila brought Big Poley Bear to school and wore her jammies for Teddy Bear Picnic Day. She was thrilled and hasn't stopped talking about it!

365 Project Life

2011-01-18T09:15:00.000-08:00

I recently started a Project Life book. I figure with living over here in Europe, how cool to be able to document every day with my family? On our PL message board, someone posted the thread to start us off on our journaling this week, and I thought I'd share. I really loved this concept.

The Allanah and Madeline Foundation Project - Children365 - encourages adults to make promises and declarations about their children for the year ahead.

3 reasons I love my children

6 ways they make me smile

5 things we will do together this year

1. They make me smile and give hope for the future.

They force me to slow down and pay attention to the little things in life, even if they're bugs.

Nothing is as cool as seeing yourself and your husband blended into a little person.

2. Their giggles.

Emma's stories.

John's snuggles and pure love for me.

Harry's innocence.

Their constant optimism and willingness to try new things.

Their total beauty and calm when sleeping. :)

3. Travel and see Europe!

Enjoy being with one another more and appreciate having Daddy home more.

Practice our German and French.

Concentrate on "our" family- the 5 of us and what is really important to US.

Be more spontaneous and willing to get out and "just do it!"

Bitche and Sarreguemines, France

2011-01-17T04:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Dad's last day in Europe and the weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we headed out sightseeing!

First, we headed to Bitche, France to see the Citadelle. It was much bigger than expected and very intimidating.

View of Bitche from the hill

Even had a chapel inside!

Jay and Harry talking about "conquering the fortress!"

After lunch in Bitche (LOVE the kebaps!), we headed to Sarraguemines, France. It was gorgeous. We'll definitely have to head back there when we have more time to explore. We found a park right along the Saar River and decided to let the kids enjoy the weather for awhile.

French pastries- eclairs and pommetartin! YUMMY!!!

Fun Times

2011-01-17T04:31:00.000-08:00

The kids demanded to play outside the other day in the rain. Since it was reasonably warm out (about 45 degrees), I figured, "why not?!" So, they headed out in rain coats and boots and had a blast. Of course, Emmila needed hot cider when she came inside, but I think that's going to continue until June at least... :)

Dad and I took the kids on a "nature walk" around the village the other day. As you can see, ALL of our snow is completely GONE! How crazy is the weather here??

Jay spent most of last week working on scheduling a flight coming in from Mildenhall. As a thank you, the crew invited us out to dinner with them at a local German restaurant in Kaiserslautern. Jay and I jumped at the chance for a nice meal since we had Gaga in town to babysit.
And guess who we got to have dinner with??!! The passengers on the plane were from an Armed Forces Entertainment trip headed to the middle east, starring Mario Andretti and Al Unser Jr! Of course, we got our pictures taken with them. As you can see, John was thrilled. :) LOL, Harry was quite jealous, especially after we showed him some youtube videos of the two drivers.

Can't believe how big my little guy is getting! He's 4.5 months old already!

Euro Disney

2011-01-16T11:58:00.001-08:00

Paris Pictures

2011-01-14T06:45:00.000-08:00

Ostende, Belgium

2011-01-14T01:17:00.000-08:00

We had big plans to see Belgium- Ostende, Bruges, Brussels, etc. However, it was pouring rain and freezing wind, so we did a quick drive-by through Ostende to see the North Sea and made plans to come back this summer. It was a gorgeous little sea-side town and we'd love to go back when the weather is better!!