And More Good-byes!

The boys' last day of Kindergarten was the day before we moved into the furnished apartment.  It was a sad good-bye.  The head teacher took a few special moments with each of them.  She spoke to Drew exclusively in German, but spoke half English, half German to Judah.  

I took a picture after their cubbies had been stripped.

We played at the playground across the parking lot after school like we've done so many times.  The boys found a cricket and played with it for a while.  They've been so interested in insects and so we've been talking a lot about how to tell if it is an insect by counting the legs and body parts.

Holding his Cricket

Two of Judah's Friends from School

One of the little German boys was crying because Drew and Judah wouldn't be coming back after the break.  So sad!

Trip Down Memory Lane

One of our priests had his sixty year jubilee Mass in Bann, a village that was next to our village last time we lived here.  That Sunday Isaac was scheduled to serve in our parish church as an altar server.  We were torn between wanting to go in two different directions for Mass, so we split up.  I took Isaac, Hannah, and Bobby with me to our parish while everyone else went to the jubilee Mass.  We met up afterwards for the reception and ran into this precious nun from our past.

Swester Batina was the headmistress at the kindergarten that the girls went to from 2008-2010.  She remembered us and the girls and was so sweet.  She doesn't speak a lick of English, but we were able to converse with her and catch up all in German.  This was just amazing for us because we had heard she'd retired but really had no way of contacting her.  It was one of those moments you just keep thinking about all day.  

Here are some pictures from the jubilee.

The Procession Before Mass

Feeling Nostalgic

Since we shipped our van, we had only two small cars and I couldn't take everyone out at the same time while Brian was at work.  So I was taking Bobby to take the boys to kindergarten and letting him play at the playground next to it for a little bit in the morning and letting them all play after school as well.  The after school playtime was really so the boys and I could spend more time with their friends before the move.  If the older kids wanted to come as well, I either let them ride their bikes to the park and meet me there or we all rode our bikes or scooters there.  Hannah never opted to come so I always left Bobby napping if I didn't drive, but Genevieve and Isaac did.  I walked it a couple of times, but the 4 minute drive is a 40 minute speed walk one way.  It's only a 15-20 minute bike ride.  I pulled a trailer behind my bike to get Judah back since he can't walk, bike, or scooter that after a day of hard playing at school.

These pictures are from one of the mornings with just Bobby.  I was getting very sad that we were leaving and so I got the camera out and took pictures to help my memory of this place.

The Playground by the School

From the Playground, Looking at the School

Bobby at the Fountain

Though I am excited about living near family and n the land of modern conveniences again, I will miss this place.

A Field Trip with the German Kindergarten

Also during the week that Brian was gone in Scotland, Drew and Judah had a field trip to the Gartenschau in Kaiserslautern.  I haven't been able to attend this field trip in past years, so I was excited to take all the kids to it this time.

The morning was all free play time and then we had a picnic lunch together.  After that the teachers and the kids had organized a little program for the parents to watch.  Then they pulled the parents into it at the end.

Judah and his Best Friend

Judah and his best friend had a grand ole time playing together!  Drew disappeared and played with his friends while I kept my eyes on Bob and Judah.

How cool is this swing?  Hannah swung with Bobby for a long time and said that all baby swings should be that much fun.

This onion swing is a huge hit with the kids, but it's not my favorite because the kids get into it only by the bottom

The Program

Just Life

Since Bobby, Genevieve, and I stayed home sick from Easter Sunday Mass, Bobby had not been able to wear the most fantastic suit I found on clearance for $3 after Christmas.  Solution:  He wore it for Divine Mercy Sunday instead.  I really had to force the bow tie issue on him.  He is an extreme Mama's Boy and so I told him if e wanted to sit with me at Mass he had to wear the bow tie and that was the end of that problem.  Of late, my fears have begun to come to fruition and he is becoming more and more particular and vocal about how clothes feel.  I knew from a young age that he was going to be like Hannah and Drew in this clothes sensitivity thing.  He's had the signs for a long time and here he is approaching three years of age and right on schedule he's starting to push back on jeans and clothes that feel too tight or stiff.  He also is having a hard time with not wearing socks some days now that the weather is getting nicer.  Both Hannah and Drew always have trouble during the season transitions when you either have to start wearing socks and tennis shoes or stop wearing them and wear sandals or flip flops, or even sleeves and layers to no sleeves, or vise verse.  It goes on and on.  

Nice weather also equals gym days becoming park or playground days.  We've had several playground days and this particular day was a friendly game of kickball between the home-schoolers.

Bobby has been very tired before nap time these days.  I catch him laying on the floor with a car or book.  This particular day he was just laying his head on the table where the big kids (individually) and I sit to do schoolwork together.  I just put him down before lunch is he is this tired.  The kid eats so little anyway he never misses lunch.  I have to make a point of remembering to offer him lunch when he wakes up because he won't.

The German Kindergarten has a playground across the parking lot that the moms have been taking their kids to right after pick up time.  We try to do this as often as possible.  I love to hear the boys speaking in German to their friends as they play.

Drew and his friend, Mia.  There are only girls his age.  It bothered him for a while and then he just accepted it.  Now he is the BMOC.  The girls are always running up to him and chatting away or waving frantically as we pull away in the van on gym day when I pick him up early.  

One day I arrived about ten minutes early to pick him up and they were just sitting down at the table for a game.  Frau Grau asked if they could stay and play the game.  I videotaped part of it because it was so much fun to watch.  Basically, it is like "Who took the candy?  Not me, maybe it was..." kind of game.  After they went all the way around the table, they even included me in the game before finally revealing the candy (AKA Bon Bons) and passing them out to everyone.

Meine Freunde Buch: A Funny Story

Every once in a while, one of the boys will have a book in their box at Kindergarten to take home, fill out, and bring back.  They are the typical friend books where you fill out information about yourself and your favorite things.  There is always a place for the child to draw a picture for the owner of the book, one of the other Kindergarten students.  I helped the boys fill out all the writing parts.  I read the questions in German and they answered me in German.  I wrote it down.  I knew how to spell all but one word that Drew told me.  I had to look that one up because I didn't even believe him that it was the right word.  I'd never heard it.  Witzig means "funny," but it was not the word I knew for funny.  I am super excited about how well they are both doing with German.

Anyway, back to my story, I left Judah to do his drawing and when I came back, he had drawn something.  I said, "Wow!  That looks like a flower."  He said that it wasn't a flower, but a person with a flower headband on.  Then he told me, "It's the meany meaniest mean Mia. She's so mean and she never let's me play."  I have been laughing to myself about this for a week, because Mia is the one to whom the book belongs.  Luckily, she'll probably think he drew her a flower and not a picture of the meaniest meany.  I probably shouldn't think this is funny, but I can't help it.

On a different note, Drew really wants one of these books now so that he can remember his time here in German Kindergarten.

St. Nicholas Day and the German Kindergarten Program

Brian always goes to work late if possible on St. Nicholas' Day because that is when we do our stockings and sometimes another gift.  We started this tradition about 9 years ago when we lived in Germany and Brian was deploying before Christmas and he wanted to see the girls get their gifts.  We do wrap a gift for under the tree too, but I try to stick to one gift each and then maybe a shared gift for Christmas Day.  They get a lot from family and the "stuff" is really overwhelming with so many kids.

Right after taking a bite of his chocolate Santa, Drew's tooth got really loose and he let Brian pull it.  It was his first tooth to loose!  Loosing a tooth because of chocolate isn't a bad way to do it, right?  He cried and has been a bit of a weeny about the whole thing.  However, he was happy to accept the dollar in his tooth pillow that I made him when he was born while proudly proclaiming that he knew I was the one who put it there.

A party for families was scheduled for after the school day ends at 2pm.  We were excited to be able to take Nanna with us and watch Drew and Judah do a couple of songs for the families.  I brought some American brownies to share because they were a big hit last year.

Drew was a little embarrassed this time and half performed his song and dance.  Judah was the cutest smiley thing ever!

After that we were supposed to rush over to the big three's Gregorian Chant practice, but we were getting a new window in the kitchen installed and  had to miss it.  I'm embracing the Joy of Missing Out!

Missing Tooth and All!

Judah was so very cute when he did the hand motions and clapped with the songs!

Drew is the oldest in the Kindergarten now and so he was the leader penguin in the second song they did.  He collected more children to follow him each round, when the chorus was sung.

Big Boy Updates

Going to school in the morning

Drew and Judah are doing well at Kindergarten, but they have not made too much progress in the language department.  Drew has picked up some terms that he hears frequently.  Judah really enjoys "going to school," and often doesn't want to leave.  He's made lots of friends he tells me.  When I asked who is best friend is, he said, "Everybody!"  I would say that I definitely see improvements in the relationship between Drew and Judah which is what I was hoping for.  

Changing into house shoes before school...they all have to have gym shoes and house shoes in addition to their regular shoes.  In the fall and winter they wear the house shoes inside only to keep all the leaves, mud, and snow outside.  

Isaac got his palatal expander in October.  We had to turn the key once a day to make it expand his upper jaw for over a month.  It has created a big gap between his front two teeth.  That is exactly what was intended so there would be room for the rest of his teeth, most importantly to see if the baby tooth that is stuck under his gums and other teeth will come down if given room.  Then about a month after getting his expander, they gave him a face mask to wear when he sleeps to help pull his top jaw forward.  It actually only attaches to the hooks on his expander.  It doesn't go around his head like what I had imagined.  I was a little concerned that it would make it hard to sleep, but he sleeps solid until morning.  He's a little sore in the morning, but only for a short time.  I've been very impressed with how he's handled everything.  Isaac has been a real trooper about the whole thing even though he was nervous at first.  He didn't even mind me posting his picture on the blog.

First Day of German Kindergarten: Judah

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I know I've mentioned it before that German Kindergarten is really like preschool, or at least how preschool used to be.  They do some learning, but mostly they play, do crafts, story time, and singing.  In addition to that they have gym time and also an optional Musikschule (music school.)  The age range is 2-5 years old.  At 6 years old they begin 1st grade.

They had room for Judah to start this fall.  The first week they asked me to stay with him the whole time and increase the length of time each day.  Everyday when it was time to leave, he would ask to stay longer.  He was dying to go on the playground outside, but the weather didn't cooperate.  The only day they went outside, it was after we had left and the sun came out.  In fact, he still hasn't had one chance at going outside to the playground yet.  :(

Drew's not much of a hugger.  Judah is!  Drew  and Judah are getting along better since Judah started school as I had hoped.

Judah has adjusted swimmingly to going everyday.  I no longer have to stay, but he still is on a short schedule.  This means I take the boys at 8 or 9am, pick up Judah at 11:45am (just before lunchtime) and then return for a third and final time to pick up Drew at 2pm.  The point of this whole thing is to a) teach them German and b) give me more uninterrupted time to teach the older children.  As you can imagine that isn't happening yet since I am picking up Judah in the middle of it.  I am hoping it opens up more time as he begins to stay the full day.

Drew's First Day of Kindergarten

Before we left for Italy, this happened!

My beautiful boy ready for his first day!

I was supposed to stay with him the first day.  I considered not taking the little boys with me, but since Judah might be able to go to the school too when they have a spot, I thought it would be good for him to see it.  Bobby just stayed in the sling with me.  Drew liked it a lot.  They had a lot of puzzles that are all new to him, and he is in a puzzle phase right now.  He didn't talk to the other kids much, but one time I heard a girl tell him something in German about the play-dough being big or something.  Drew looked at her and just scoffed, "I know!"  First day was only 1 hour, and the next day was two hours and I left him there most of that after I went over paperwork with Frau Grau.

Judah insisted on having a backpack too.

We've been gone a lot this month and June doesn't look much better, so he's been in and out, and I hope that doesn't cause him any trouble.  I know it will make adjusting take longer for sure.  His biggest disappointment has been the music school.  He was looking forward to it the most, but when he actually went and didn't know any of the words to the songs, he was very sad that he "didn't even get to do music!"  Poor guy!  I know it's hard.  However, he made an American friend on the third or fourth day and that has made all the difference.  It may slow down the language learning a bit, but at least he doesn't feel quite so isolated.  

Guess who's going to kindergarten!!!!

 Oh yeah, baby!  We found him a spot.  We should really give all the credit to God for putting that idea in Brian's head to just stop by this one kindergarten one last time to see if they'd put him on the waiting list at the neighboring village kindergarten.  This was after Brian and Drew drove around to something like eight other kindergartens and were rejected at all of them.

A student had just left, and they said he can start in May!  Praise God!  This is really a huge blessing for me and the whole family. Poor Drew is bored to tears most days.  He's even asking to do schoolwork and has made huge progress in learning to read all because he is bored and tells me I can pick anything for him to do.  I am hoping and praying he adjusts quickly and with minimal stress despite the language barrier.  It will really help us get our schoolwork done at home too without the distraction for Isaac and the fighting with the two year old over all things stupid.  And Judah may be able to join him soon.

Our Biggest Disappointment

This is a picture of a cute, blonde, curly-headed boy having his quiet time in our "library."  Our library is the open area above our living room outside of the boys' rooms.  It has all our bookshelves minus four that are in the boys' rooms and our official school books in the office.  On the other side is the Lego table.  Anyway he looks at books, plays Legos, or does jigsaw puzzles (around 24-30 pieces) which he's suddenly taken an interest in.  Don't worry this cutie is not our biggest disappointment.  It has to do with him somewhat, and every post is better with pictures I've been told.

Our biggest disappointment with living in Germany is that the kindergartens in our area are not accepting Americans.  They only get funding for a certain amount of teachers and all German children are guaranteed a spot if they register them when they are born, as I understand it.  But this has always been the case, and last time we were here they let us get on a waiting list.  The rumor is that the Syrian refugees get priority over Americans because the Americans have the military schools.  So we have been rejected by six schools so far in six different villages.  I am hoping that if we go out further North away from the city there might be a village that has room or at least lets us get on a waiting list.  I really wanted to have a little bit of time in the mornings to get more schoolwork done with the older kids without as many interruptions, and I REALLY wanted Drew to learn to speak German.

As of now, I haven't even been able to find someone to tutor us in German.  Brian is taking a class once a week, and the three big kids and I are competing daily on Duo Lingo.  The kids are kicking my butt, by the way.  We are still searching!