The Longest Blog Ever

This blog sums up my entire Easter weekend. I could have made it a few short blogs instead of one long one, but I didn't because I'm lazy. Sorry for wasting 15 minutes of your life you can never get back :P

Gracie was kind enough to eat Abby's dyed Easter eggs while we were out running errands on Thursday. Better the eggs than the Easter bunny!

Abs was less than thrilled.

We spent the first day doing a "Flat Stanley" project for Shawna's nephew. For those of you who don't know, Flat Stanley is a fictional character from a book that ends up getting squished and travels around the world in people's suitcases when they go on vacation. I guess students in the States are sending their own Flat Stanleys out to friends who live in fun places to take pictures of him doing exciting things. Basically, Shawna and I used this as an excuse to go downtown and eat some good food!

Look at Oliver holding up his huge Megamind head. What a champ! By the way, I have started telling people that Oliver's brain is so powerful he needs to wear this mind shield to contain its massive energy. He's like a superhero, without the ability to sit on his own or stay on his tummy for long periods of time. Super smart people have no need for those sissy skills!

This is Flat Stanley.

Saturday we did some service and then headed off to the zoo. I drove around for 30 minutes looking for a parking spot. The kiddos fell asleep right as I found one, of course!

Monkeys watching monkeys.

Abby is missing her dad, but luckily my sister/wife Shawna let us borrow her husband. He even traded his awesome currywurst for Abby's super lame hot dog. Clearly, she loved it so much she washed her face in it.

The Knut memorial was a little out of control. This was just a small part of it.

You can just guess what happened next...

Sunday we got up nice and early to take Easter photos.

After church we headed off to have a BBQ with one of our favorite German families. They are SO much fun. There are eight children in this family. Yup, not a typo -- EIGHT. It is always a ton of fun to spend time at their house, and they all crack me up. Loves it!

Abs dress was totally covered in crap when we got home. I don't think it will be making a repeat appearance next Easter.

Easter marked the 1/2 way point in Jeremy's deployment. Only 100 more days until he returns. What was that sound you ask? That was me barfing in my mouth a little bit.

Today we headed off to an Easter extravaganza at Dahlem Domain, which is an organic farm near my house. This is my friend Mandi and her sweet twins, Leo and Alex. They are adorable. I love their little English accents. Totally Harry Potter goodness. It breaks my heart that they are leaving this summer :(

Jamie Oliver would have been disgusted at our attempt to guess what vegetables were planted in all the different sections of the farm. Not a single one of us could figure it out. It only got worse when I attempted to have the kids take photos in the "grass," which turned out to be wheat. let's just say the workers had a lot of choice words for us that probably weren't organic.

Abs and I rocked out on the swings. I am the one with my arms failing out to the side. We probably should have done the swings before we gorged ourselves on bratwurst. Live and learn, I guess.

HAPPY EASTER!

I'm 32!

Here I am in all my 32 years of glory! I'm sure you can all tell that I've been literally running my butt off and have lost 13 pounds already :P I've started back with Weight Watchers and I wear my running shoes everywhere so I can "take it up a notch" when I'm pushing Oliver around. I was able to log four miles before I knew it yesterday! My goal is to return to my pre-Oliver weight (175) before Jeremy returns home. Let's all pray for a miracle :)

It's been beautiful here, and the kids and I have made it a goal to find/try every playground within a 1-mile radius of our house before the month is over. It's awesome to be out and about during that 5 o'clock meltdown hour. Abby is so exhausted when we finally get home that she eats and goes right to bed.

Best. Idea. Ever.

Abby and I got some gelato for my birthday treat. She was kind enough to eat her cone and half of mine.

Then we went off to a spring festival at my friend's kita. Only in Germany would they have a crossbow and archery station for kids under the age of 10.

Abby was not down with this fake Native American. My dream catcher skills are so much better than his.

One little, two little, three little....

Don't these woods remind you of WWII movies? I always expect to see people running through them with soldiers following behind.

My friend made me this awesome angel food cake. Delicious.

Another friend made me lime cupcakes with mango frosting. I ate four of them!

They hang Easter eggs on trees over here. They are so beautiful to look at.

Got to love the cheesy decorations I got for Abby. She loves to run and hit this when she passes by. They will probably not be around much longer.

Abby loved decorating eggs. Holidays with kids are so much fun.

Isn't she talented? It only took Gracie two days to realize that there were eggs inside these beautiful shells and she ate them while we were at church. She's real helpful like that.

My wife is awesome!

Jeremy here, blogger hacker from Africa, and just in case you didn't know...

TODAY IS DENISE'S BIRTHDAY!!!

I know most people get Birthday info from Facebook, but just in case you didn't know, today is the day.

Once again, and I'm fairly certain this has happened almost every year we've been married, Denise is spending her Birthday without me. Somehow my job seems to keep me away on all of the mom/wife holidays; Birthday, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc. It may be a conspiracy, but I like to think it's just dumb luck. Thankfully we've always had great friends, wherever we've lived, that have taken good care of my family when I'm away and hopefully today is no different.

I will forever be grateful that the stars came into alignment for Denise and I to meet; I can't imagine my life without her, and as my mother often tells me "It's a good thing you found her, because I'm not sure any other woman would put up with you." Mom says she prayed Denise into my life and I couldn't be happier (neither could mom... in fact, I'm pretty sure likes Denise more than she likes me!).

Denise, we all love you, we're grateful for everything you do for our family, and I can't wait to see you again!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Painful Steps

I've been really trying to lose weight for the past two months, so my friend and I decided we would kick it into high gear and start taking walks and playing outside with our kids instead of sitting on the couch and eating mindlessly. We've both lost some weight and had fun adventures out in the wild with the kiddos.

A few Sunday's ago we thought we would take the kids to the forest to ride bikes and explore. Abby had fun for about 10 minutes. It's hard to explain to a three-year-old that sitting on a bench does not make you The Biggest Loser.

Since Abby was too tired to ride her bike, I got to carry her bike and drag her along.

We picked up some extra kids along the way. Everyone likes to hang out with us.

Sunday is all about playing with your dog at the lake.

The kids felt the need to "test the water," of course.

Listen to the joys of children cancelling out the joys of nature....

Professional Fun

I usually try to stay out of the photos I put on the blog, but today I just couldn't help but get my greasy mug all up in your business.

I totally believe in the creation, but I will say that when you get a group of moms together we all look like monkeys grooming our kids -- wiping snot off their faces, digging in their noses and ears, picking crud off their clothes. I could even see me hitting my chest in the face of Abby's defiance. Don't even get me started on my hairy bod. I'm totally half monkey!

Could my kids look more like Jeremy? If I didn't have them, I would totally be asking questions.

It's seriously hard to get a good photo. Oliver is trying to pull Abby's hair....

... or Abby is picking her nose ...

... or someone needs to be tickled to keep them from whining.

But, eventually, we get one that's sort of okay.

My dear sweet Oliver loves me more than life itself. He only wants to nap while I breastfeed him or I push him in the stroller. He loves to sleep in his crib at night, but will scream until he pukes if I even THINK of putting him in there during the day. He had a good five day stretch of going in no problem, but those dreamy days are over. Needless to say, I've stopped trying. He only lets me hold him (just like Abby!), and if I ever need to leave him with someone to go to an appointment -- HOW DARE I?!?!? -- he will scream bloody murder for hours until I return. It's exhausting being his mom, but I can't help but love that little stinker to pieces.

This is what Abby looked like in the morning of her school pictures. Her teachers let me know that she ripped out her hair, stained her shirt, and threw her flower away shortly after I left. They also let me know that not only did she refuse to smile in her picture, but she scowled at the photographer and held her hands in front of her face. Somehow I knew this was going to happen and had my own photo shoot as soon as I got her ready.

I love her "deep" look.

Abby makes me proud every single day. She is so smart, so fun, and so joyful. She is totally a daddy's girl and lives for their nightly Skype chats! I love three-years-old (so much more than two).

I stole this from my friend's page. I just LOVE it. Oliver is totally looking at my friend like, "Don't you think of touching me. This could have been a good photo, but then you got in it. I am five seconds from shoving this napkin in your mouth and getting my mom back all to myself. Just keep smiling, Punk."

Clearly, being in the exersaucer is just not fun enough!